Architecture student Adrian Finn has researched Bournemouth’s glow-worm past for a new light installation at Bournemouth’s Arts By The Sea Festival

Student Adrian Finn, who is currently studying at AUB, first became interested in the bioluminescent insects after walking his local area near to Throop Mill, where glow-worms were once common.

While still sometimes spotted in Dorset’s wilder countryside areas like Durlston Country Park and Wareham Forest, glow-worms were once a popular sight in Bournemouth at nature spots like the Stour Valley Nature Reserve. However, increasingly warmer summer have seen the UK’s glow-worm population decline by two-thirds since 2002.

Adrian first approached Bournemouth’s Natural Sciences Society (BNSS), who helped him to dig a little deeper into the once-magical sight. Adrian said: “I visited BNSS in the hope of discovering more locally-specific information about Bournemouth’s glow-worm past. As summers have grown hotter, the population have struggled to feed, and numbers have fallen hugely.