There’s a butterfly ‘emergency’ across the country this summer and loss of habitat and urban development has been blamed. Cast your mind back to when you were a child, do you remember counting and identifying moths and butterflies of different shapes and sizes – well now’s a good time to do that again.
Our native British butterflies and moths are a delightful sight to see, with some species travelling across oceans and seas to migrate to the UK in the summer months. But the joyful sight of these winged insects should not be taken for granted – and Dr Richard Fox, head of science at UK charity Butterfly Conservation has declared a ‘butterfly emergency’. Dr Fox has written to Steve Reed, secretary of state for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, calling for the Government to act now to help nature – and you can help too with your mobile phone.
Dr Fox is calling for butterfly-killing pesticides to be banned – and he said that when these chemicals are used on farmland they ‘make their way into the wild plants growing at field edges’, this means adult butterflies and moths are then ‘drinking contaminated nectar’ and caterpillars are ‘feeding on contaminated plants’.
“Butterflies are a key indicator species; when they are in trouble we know that the wider environment is in trouble too”, the expert said.
He explained that many European countries have already banned dangerous chemicals and that ‘it’s time for the UK to follow suit and put the natural world first’.
Dr Fox added: “If we don’t act now to address the long-term drivers of butterfly decline, we will face extinction events never before seen in our lifetime.”
But UK residents can help with the quest to save these colourful insects which are vital pollinators (as they transfer pollen) from plant to plant – and this enables the yield of some crops.
All you need to do is grab your phone and sit for 15 minutes in a spot such as a park, your garden, out in the countryside or even in a city – and take part in the annual Big Butterfly Count.
In 2024, the summer Big Butterfly Count showed ‘a marked and hugely concerning decline in numbers’, reports Garden Organic, and the worrying results triggered the Butterfly Conservation charity to declare a ‘butterfly emergency’.
Data recorded by the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) in 2024 paints a ‘bleak picture’ for UK butterflies, with 51 of 58 species monitored showing a decline in numbers compared to 2023, making it the the 5th worst year on record, and over a third of the species showing a significant long-term decline.
Conservationists have warned that butterflies are ‘particularly vulnerable to environmental factors such as climate change and the use of pesticides, making them an important indicator for the state of biodiversity in the UK’.
Last year’s Big Butterfly Count results recorded only 935,000 butterflies (and day-flying moths) across the UK from 12 July – 4 August 2024.
This was down from almost 600,000 compared with 2023 with 9000 participants logging seeing no butterflies at all, but now it’s time for the 2025 count.
If you head over to the Big Butterfly Count website you can download their easy-to-use butterfly ID chart (or the free app for iOS and Android to identify and record the butterflies you see).
The count is going on until Sunday, August 10, just ‘choose a place to spot butterflies and moths and watch for 15 minutes’.