Volunteers help butterflies
Heath Fritillary butterflyAn enthusiastic band of twenty volunteers met on Friday morning on Grabbist Hill, to carry out important conservation work for the nationally rare Heath Fritillary.
One of Britain’s rarest butterflies, the Heath Fritillary boasts a chequered pattern of brown and orange markings. Now found in only four locations in England, Exmoor is a stronghold for the species. The Grabbist Hill and Alcombe Common area is one of 13 sites across the moor which are known to support the butterfly.
The volunteers were undertaking a training course to learn how to carry out a ‘timed count’ survey for the butterfly. The workshop was run by Butterfly Conservation with help from Exmoor National Park Authority, The Crown Estate and The National Trust.
Monitoring the state of our wildlife is a very important area of conservation work, which helps us discover how our rare species are doing – whether they are in decline or on the increase. Carrying out surveys of threatened species gives us valuable information which can help to ensure that our conservation management efforts are directed where they are most needed.
Jenny Plackett, Butterfly Conservation Project Officer, said “The Heath Fritillary is one of our most threatened, and most stunning, butterflies and I’m delighted that everyone was able to get really good views of them, at least in the morning when the weather was sunny. And now they have the knowledge to carry out surveys across other sites and hopefully provide some really useful data – they may even discover some new colonies which we aren’t aware of.”
The decline of the Heath Fritillary has come about as a result of a reduction in the traditional management practices which provided suitable habitat. In Exmoor’s heathland combes, a lack of swaling management and grazing has resulted in increased scrubbing over of the bilberry and cow-wheat covered slopes, whilst in woodland habitats a reduction in traditional woodland management practices such as coppicing is believed to be behind the insect’s decline.
In recent years, however, the plight of the butterfly on Exmoor has significantly improved, with considerable management being undertaken by The National Trust on areas occupied by Heath Fritillary on the Holnicote Estate, whilst The Crown Estate, Forestry Commission and Minehead Town Council have carried out practical management to improve habitat along the Alcombe Common-Hopcott Common ridge above Minehead.
For more information on Heath Fritillary butterflies, or getting involved in surveying butterflies on Exmoor, contact Jenny Plackett on 0300 060 2405, or see the website www.butterfly-conservation.org
To find out about other volunteering opportunities on Exmoor contact Patrick on 07973727469 for email pwatts-mabbott@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk or search for Exmoor Conservation Volunteers on facebook.
ENDS
Press information
Images available from ckoconnor@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk
Contact
Jenny Plackett, Two Moors Threatened Butterfly Project Officer, Butterfly Conservation.
Tel: 0300 060 2405. Mobile: 0791 807 3654. Email: jplackett@butterfly-conservation.org
www.butterfly-conservation.org
Patrick Watts-Mabbot, Education Support Officer (Volunteers)
Exmoor National Park Authority, Exmoor House, Dulverton, Somerset, TA22 9HL
Tel: 01398 323665 Direct Line: 07973727469
Notes for Editors
Butterfly Conservation is the largest charity of its type in the world. Its aim is the conservation of butterflies, moths and their habitats. It runs conservation programmes on over 60 threatened species of butterfly and moth and manages over 30 nature reserves.
Further information www.butterfly-conservation.org
Big Butterfly Count run by Butterfly Conservation and supported by Marks & Spencer will be taking place 16-31 July 2011. Members of the public will be able to record their sightings online at www.bigbutterflycount.org
Butterfly Conservation.
Company limited by guarantee, registered in England (2206468).
Registered Office: Manor Yard, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset, BH20 5QP.
Charity registered in England & Wales (254937) and in Scotland (SCO39268)
Exmoor National Park
Enhancing the qualities that make Exmoor special
Visit our website at http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk
Published: 13 June 2011