7 August, 2026

Have you ever lifted a flowerpot in your garden, or turned over a stone on a woodland walk, only to see a cluster of grey, pill-shaped creatures scurrying for cover? Have you ever stopped to wonder what they are doing there?

We have. That’s why we were delighted to see woodlice recognised as the Guardian‘s “top invertebrate of the year“, shining a spotlight on an often-overlooked creature that helps keep the natural world running beneath our feet.

Woodlice are known by a remarkable variety of names across the UK. Depending on where you grew up, you might know them as cheesy bobs, roly-polies, chucky pigs, granny grunters, or even potato bugs. Surprisingly, despite often being thought of as bugs, woodlice are not insects but crustaceans, making them distant relatives of crabs, lobsters and shrimp.

Woodlice are what ecologists call detritivores, or, in simpler terms, nature’s recyclers. By feeding on fallen leaves, rotting wood and other organic matter, they help return valuable nutrients to the soil. Their activity accelerates decomposition and contributes to the formation of fertile soils. Without creatures like woodlice, forests, fields, and grasslands would be far less efficient at recycling the nutrients that plants and other organisms depend upon.

Their recognition also shines a light on a much bigger issue. Around the world, concern is growing about the health of our soils. Topsoil is being lost following intensive land use and extreme weather, while critical nutrients such as phosphorus are becoming increasingly constrained. At the same time woodlice face growing pressures of their own. Intensive agriculture, soil acidification and changing weather patterns can all reduce woodlice numbers and disrupt the processes that help recycle nutrients and maintain healthy soils. Yet these challenges rarely receive the same attention as climate change, plastic pollution or biodiversity loss, despite their profound implications for food production, water quality, carbon storage and ecosystem resilience.

So next time you spot a woodlouse, take a moment to appreciate it. These small crustaceans may never enjoy the popularity of bees or butterflies, but they remind us that some of nature’s most important work happens out of sight, and that protecting soil health is not only a farming issue, it is fundamental to the resilience and stability of our ecosystems and food supply.

By Hillevi Fock