A group of 17 students of the fourth year of the Double Degree in Biology and Environmental Sciences of the University of Navarra have built two dwellings to house insects. The aim of these "hotels" is to provide a refuge for pollinating insects and other animals with beneficial activity for the environment, such as pest predators.

"These hotels serve to counteract the alarming decline in pollinating insect populations due to lack of habitat, the use of pesticides in the fields and atmospheric pollution, but above all they have the function of raising awareness of this problem among citizens. It is a way of making Biodiversity visible to people who have not had the opportunity to learn about its importance", says Enrique Baquero, professor at School of Sciences of the University of Navarra.

This initiative has arisen from the framework practices of the subject "Methods in Animal and Plant Diversity"The students, who have received a previous Degree in Biology and Environmental Sciences taught at the academic institution. The students, who have received a previous training by those responsible for the project Aterpeakhave built two hotels from a "Kit" manufactured by staff of the Ilundain Foundation. The material with which this box is constructed is wood and has different types of "lodgings" to house insects and other arthropods of various species.

The students who participated in the installation of these panels are Nicolás Alberdi Morillo, Adriana Alcalde Bolaños, Rubén Aranguren Fernández De Barrena, Marcos Cibriáin Sagüés, Adriana María Coronel Hamilton, Leire García Ezpeleta, Luis Górriz Huarte, Elisa Elora Leclercq, Ismael Marie Martín Hattrick, Lucas Martín Hattrick, Shirley May, Victoria Patricia Rabat Villarreal, Ana Isabel Sánchez Alcázar, Paula María Santos Cassanello, Anne Valle Zazpe, Goizane Viedma Lana, and Ingrid Carmen Wozniak López.

"Insects play an essential role in preserving the environment around us and seek in nature this subject space to shelter or make their nests. They are occupied by bees, flies, bugs or spiders, contributing to the protection of biodiversity," adds Baquero.

The two hotels have been placed in the Campus of the University of Navarra, one located next to the old bridge of Iturrama (crossing over the river Sadar of the Camino de Santiago) and the other in a more wooded area of the university campus .