According to the BBC, 148 acres of central British wildlands were rehabilitated to support dwindling butterfly populations.
Hundreds of volunteers helped rewild habitat across Worcestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Nottinghamshire over the course of four years to complete the project. The charity Butterfly Conservation coordinated the work alongside partners such as Severn Trent Water, Forestry Commission, Forestry England, Sustrans, and private and public landowners.
The new habitat should prove to be a good home for butterfly species such as the pearl-bordered fritillary and grizzled skipper. One species, the grayling, has had its population decrease by 72% since the 1970s. Another, the silver-studded blue, has seen a decline of 44% since the 1980s. Previously, Butterfly Conservation was able to successfully reintroduce one species thanks to a robust breeding program following 50 years of extirpation.
Butterflies are vital pollinators. Providing them with protected habitat is good news for a wide range of flowering plants that depend on the insects to reproduce. Some researchers point the finger at indiscriminate insecticides for the global drop in butterfly numbers. Others suggest increasing temperatures caused by climate shifts are tamping down populations. In the U.S. alone, the population dropped 20% between 2000 and 2020. Habitat restoration has proved successful for butterflies in some regions, however.
Even with legal protections around certain parcels of land, major climate shifts may cause significant habitat loss. For example, drought and wildfires have posed risks to monarch butterfly populations. Reducing pollution by switching to renewable energy sources, upgrading to electric vehicles, and swapping out gas for heat pumps at home are a few ways to mitigate extreme weather patterns and the destruction they cause to important natural habitats.
While much of the newly rehabilitated butterfly area in the U.K. remains publicly accessible, it is vulnerable. Organizers requested that visitors remain light-footed.
"We just ask people to remember that these are sensitive sites, so please be courteous and careful," said Midlands Butterfly Conservation Manager Rhona Goddard, per the BBC.
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