Ways To Promote Butterfly Conservation
Many species of butterflies in the UK are in decline owing to land-use changes which have destroyed and fragmented their habitats. Modern intensive farming in particular with its ploughing up of traditional meadows and replacement with ryegrass pastures and large scale arable farming where small fields have been amalgamated into larger ones and planted with one or just a few arable crops forming monocultures has created an environment which is unsuitable for butterflies.
And a decline in woodland management in recent decades owing to the abandonment of traditional coppicing has meant that woodland glades which are essential for some butterfly species such as the Pearl-bordered Fritillary have filled in. Other changes in farming has meant that some habitats have become unsuitable from over-grazing and others from under-grazing. And of course, the building of roads, the expansion of urban areas, the building of golf courses etc have all destroyed butterfly colonies one-by-one year after year.
However, Butterfly Conservation, the UK charity dedicated to conserving butterflies & moths has a track record of reversing the declines of some threatened butterfly species:
- the Large Blue has been successfully re-introduced after becoming extinct in 1979
- the Heath Fritillary was close to extinction but appropriate management has led to a doubling of the number of colonies on Exmoor
- the brightly-coloured Marsh Fritillary which occurs in parts of England, Wales & Scotland has benefited from the introduction of appropriate grazing regimes.
- the decline in the Silver-spotted Skipper has been reversed with changes in grazing on the chalk-downland in south-east England where it occurs
- the spectacular Adonis Blue is another species of chalk-downland in souther England where appropriate grazing management has successfully reversed earlier declines
So the message of these successes is that conserving Britain's butterflies is very doable and Butterfly Conservation has a track record in reversing the declines in the above species and could achieve more for other species if its membership was larger.
So what can branch members do to promote Butterfly Conservation in our everyday life to increase the membership of Butterfly Conservation? This page lists articles on promoting Butterfly Conservation.
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