Battle To Save The Butterfly

Beetroot plants in trays ready to be planted out

“Just living is not enough,” said the butterfly,
“One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”

Hans Christian Anderson

This week sees the launch of a Butterfly Conservation campaign which aims to highlight the problems facing the country’s butterfly population and raise awareness of those species which are particularly under threat.

Last year the number of British butterflies dropped to a three decade low – five native species have already become extinct and of the remaining 60, 12 experienced their worst year, with populations decimated by heavy rainfall and low temperatures – these conditions make it hard for butterflies to find food and reduces the chance of successful breeding. One of the other main reasons for butterflies declining is the destruction of meadow habitat. Since the 1970’s 97% of the UK’s meadows have been destroyed together with ancient woodlands, peat bogs and downland.

In 2008 the Butterfly Conservation Survey - conducted by 1,500 volunteers counting butterflies across 920 sites – made grim reading with the High Brown Fritillary having less than 50 colonies left in the UK.

Beetroot plants in trays ready to be planted out

Save Our Fritillary …

To save the High Brown Fritillary (which for some reason reminds me of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall – although I don’t think he’s becoming extinct is he?*?) a new conservation initiative has been launched. With £430,000 being invested by Butterfly Conservation (with nearly £250,000 of this coming from Landfill Tax via GrantScape) and a further £80,000 in woodland grant packages from the Forestry Commission work has already begun.

With activity taking place in the Morecambe Bay Limestones, an area on the Lancashire and Cumbria Border where the High Brown Fritillary butterflies still have a stronghold. This area includes limestone pavements, scrub, coppice woodland and herb-rich grasslands – emphasis is being placed on opening up larger tracts of the area to make them sunnier and more welcoming to butterflies. Contractors have already widened hundreds of metres of tracks, cut back dense vegetation and cleared stunted trees and bramble.
David Wainwright, Morecambe Bay Limestones Project Officer, said the butterfly is expected to make a comeback “Without all this effort there is a great danger of losing the High Brown Fritillary. However, the project is going well and I’m sure we’ll turn things round. We are expecting to see a large increase in numbers next year.”

Beetroot plants in trays ready to be planted out

A Few Fritillary Facts…

Name – High Brown Fritillary, scientific name ‘Argynnis adippe’

Family – Nymphalidae

Flight Time – late June to mid August

Colour – golden orange upper wings with streaks and black spot markings and a pale chequered fringe, underside is orange with rows of silver spots and row of red ringed spots towards the outer margin

Wingspan – between 60 (male) to 67mm (female)

Altitude – 0-2100 metres

Habitat – dry clearings, steep slopes

Foodplants – the caterpillars main foodstuffs are common Dog Violet, together with the Hairy Violet and occasionally the Heath Dog Violet and Pale Dog Violet, but the butterfly will look for the nectar on thistles and brambles.

Lord of the Butterflies …

What could be better in life than being the world’s only millionaire property developer butterfly entrepreneur? Well that best describes Clive Farrell, with his ever-expanding lepidopteran empire that includes over a 100 acres of woods, tropical greenhouses and meadows together with his farm in the jungle of Belize that breeds 3,000 butterflies a week, his co-ownership of butterfly centres in Stratford-upon-Avon and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Butterfly World

We can now look forward ‘Butterfly World’, the dream of Clive Farrell and expected to be completed in the Spring of 2011. With the assistance of John Calvert, director of the Stratford-upon-Avon Butterfly Farm which they co-own, Clive has taken the concept of a butterfly house to a whole new level. Butterfly World will combine the world’s largest walk-through butterfly house (the dome) with 26 acres of restored native butterfly habitats.

The first phase of the 27 acre site is already open to the public. This phase consists of the UK’s largest international wildflower meadow and ‘Future Gardens’, 12 competition gardens by international designers, plus a tropical butterfly house with 250 butterflies. Here is just a taste of what you’ll see if you visit …

Butterfly World, The Leaf Gardens

Leaf Gardens

Imagine you’re the size of an insect and the ‘Through the Flowerpot Garden’ will give you an insect eye view of plant pots and other garden tools.
Whilst the ‘Spangle Gall Garden’ named after the galls left inside leaves when a wasp lays its eggs, you can enjoy the scattering of magical installations throughout the garden designed to look like galls within a leaf.
And finally the ‘Theatre of Insects Garden’ will leave you brimming with ideas on how you can turn everyday household objects into habitats for our native wildlife.

Butterfly World, The Tropical Butterfly House

Tropical Butterfly House

A taster of what is to come when the tropical dome opens, the Tropical Butterfly House is 85ft long and is full of beautiful tropical butterflies and plants.

Butterfly World, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Garden

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Edible Garden

Wow! An absolute must!! Designed in honour of Eric Carle’s children’s book ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, this garden is full of pesticide-free vegetables and plants.

Butterfly World, Walkways & Meadows

Walkways & Meadows

These walkways have been designed to take on the shape on butterflies. The Antennae Walkways are raised beds of chalk shaped like the feelers of a butterfly. Planted full of nectar-rich annuals the raised beds will attract masses of butterflies. Whilst the Proboscis Walk looks like the curled up mouthparts of a butterfly or moth called a proboscis. The spiral walkway is surrounded by flowers.

Butterfly World, The Ring Garden

The Ring

The Ring is a 100 metre diameter garden with a chalk butterfly in the centre which covers the area the Tropical Dome will be sited. Designed to attract butterflies and moths it is surrounded by sunflowers and is a small taste of what will become Butterfly World.