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Saving butterflies for 50 years
Sir David Attenborough is urging people in Gloucestershire to spend Saturday 10 March taking action for butterflies and moths to mark the 50th anniversary of wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation (BC).
The charity is celebrating its landmark birthday by holding a UK-wide conservation day of action, where it’s hoped a record number of people will carry out practical work to improve and create habitats for their local butterfly and moth species.
More than three-quarters of the UK’s butterflies and two-thirds of our larger moths have declined in the last 40 years.
BC President Sir David Attenborough said: “Half a century ago a small group of naturalists became so concerned about the plight of the UK’s butterflies that they decided to join forces to protect them.
“That organisation became Butterfly Conservation and 50 years later the need for people who care about our butterflies and moths is greater than ever before.
“You can do your bit for butterflies by taking part in Butterfly Conservation’s Day of Action on Saturday 10th March. By working together we can all take some simple steps to provide butterflies with a future.”
People can take part by joining BC’s Gloucestershire Branch from 10am until 3pm at the Bill Smyllie BC Reserve at Prestbury Hill, near Cheltenham, or at their Rough Bank reserve near Stroud.
At Rough Bank, volunteers can get involved in conservation tasks from 10am and guided walks will take place at 11am and 2pm to show people around the reserve and explain more about the work going on there.
Rough Bank is a National Nature Reserve (NNR) and is home to 33 species of butterfly, 38 species of nationally scare moths and 12 species of orchid. It is also one of the few sites in the UK where it is possible to see six species of blue butterfly.
Branch Chair, Sue Smith, said: “We’d love to see as many people as possible join us to celebrate our special birthday, either at the Smyllie BC Reserve at Prestbury Hill near Cheltenham or our Rough Bank reserve near Stroud.
“BC Branches from all over the UK will be holding similar anniversary events on Saturday 10 March, so this could end up being one of the biggest conservation days in BC’s history.”
Butterfly Conservation was founded in March 1968 and is now one of the largest insect conservation organisations in the world. The charity runs projects to protect more than 100 threatened species, as well as conserving hundreds of sites and reserves across the country.
People can find out more information on the events taking place near them by visiting: www.butterfly-conservation.org/events
Photo credit: Helen Atkinson