Battle of Britain's butterflies being lost, warns Sir David Attenborough

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Battle of Britain's butterflies being lost, warns Sir David Attenborough


By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 4:27 PM on 17th July 2008


Britain could soon be entering a 'post-butterfly era', Sir David Attenborough has warned.

He claimed that huge swaths of countryside have become a 'no-go area' for some of the UK's best loved butterflies.

Sir David Attenborough launched a new UK butterfly survival strategy at the Natural History Museum

Years of intensive farming and neglect are taking their toll on the insects, the broadcaster said. Sir David claimed that in parts of the country the insect could disappear altogether.

The comments came at the launch of a new campaign to save the UK's declining moths and butterflies from extinction.

Shocking figures released earlier this year revealed that more than three-quarters of British butterfly species have declined in the last 20 years because of habitat loss and changes in farming.

Experts believes numbers in many parts of the country are at an all-time low.

Speaking at London's Natural History Museum, Sir David said: 'Almost unbelievably, much of Britain’s countryside is a no-go area for many favourite butterflies. Habitat has been ploughed up or become overgrown.

'Anybody who’s been for a country walk recently will tell you butterflies are a rarity. Scientists fear that in some areas we’re entering a post-butterfly era.'

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A network of 'Butterfly Survival Zones' will be set up to try and save some of the country's rarest species from possible extinction

Butterfly Conservation, which is running the campaign, has designed 20 UK landscapes as Butterfly Survival Zones. These zones will become the focus of efforts to save the insects.

Chief Executive Dr Martin Warren said: 'Butterflies may be tiny, but to save them you have think big. A small colony of butterflies is always vulnerable.

'A vast chain of habitats is needed to let them spread and establish new colonies. Butterfly Conservation is already talking to many hundreds of landowners and plans to talk to thousands more over coming years.

'They’ll be urged to use Government grants to restore habitat on farms and estates in the 20 zones. The aim is to achieve entire landscapes with suitable habitat.'

Dr Warren said that Butterfly Conservation had already successfully tested the landscape approach in North York Moors and Dartmoor, where the rare Marsh Fritillary is making a comeback.

By the end of last summer, UK butterfly numbers were at their lowest for 25 years - while eight species, including the common blue and small tortoiseshell - were at an all time low.

Some declines have been speedy. Common blues are down 78 per cent compared to 2003, while numbers of small tortoiseshells fell by 81 per cent in the same period. The number of graylings has plummeted by 61 per cent in just a year.


Battle of Britain's butterflies being lost, warns Sir David Attenborough | Mail Online