Giving Compass' Take:

• Although they have a bad reputation, wasps are a vital part of the environment for pollination and eradicating other disease-carrying insects that threaten humans, reports Global Citizen.

· What is the best way to protect wasps and other important insects through conservation efforts? Which programs that focus on balance in our ecosystem should we be supporting?

· Learn how biodiversity helps against natural disasters.

I was 10 years old when a wasp stung me on ... well, on a place my editor won’t let me mention.

Typical, though, right? You’re living your life, minding your business. Then: malevolence and treachery! The Machiavellian pinprick of uncompromising evil!

But we must not judge a wasp by its brother — scientists have just highlighted that they’re one of the most important organisms on the planet.

It’s almost dogma: bees rock, wasps suck.

But both are crucial for pollination — the process that allows plant life to reproduce — and wasps actually go one step further: annihilating other insects that carry diseases that could threaten human beings.

Wasps are equally threatened by climate change and loss of habitats as bees. But if nobody likes them, is their future — and ours — in danger?

Read the full article about the importance of wasps by James Hitchings-Hales and Erica Sanchez at Global Citizen.