The results from the Big Butterfly Count for 2024 have been published ....
Butterfly Conservation - UK Butterfly emergency declared
Butterfly Conservation has declared a national “butterfly emergency” after its annual Big Butterfly Count recorded its lowest ever numbers.
The 2024 Big Butterfly Count took place from 12th July to 4th August across the UK when thousands of people recorded over a period of 15 minutes how many butterflies they saw even if it was none.
Overall, participants
spotted 7 butterflies on average per count, the lowest in the count’s 14 year
history. The 2023 average was 12.
In total, just over 935,000 butterflies and day-flying moths were recorded, down almost 600,000 (equivalent to more than a third of 2023's total) and 9,000 counts were logged as seeing zero butterflies (the highest in the history of the Big Butterfly Count).
Butterfly Conservation said it was the worst year recorded for the Common Blue, Holly Blue, Green-veined White, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady and Scotch Argus.
This year’s fall in butterfly numbers is thought to have been made worse by the wet spring coupled with the late arrival of summer heat but the long-term trend is hugely concerning and Butterfly Conservation is calling on the Government to ban pesticides (neonicotinoids) that can harm butterflies and bees “before it is too late”.
Wider data from the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, one of the longest running insect monitoring schemes in the world, shows yearly fluctuations in butterfly numbers in response to weather conditions amid a long-term picture of decline driven by climate change, habitat loss, pollution and pesticides.
Butterflies are at “their lowest ebb” on the back of 50 years of decline said the Head of Science at Butterfly Conservation, Doctor Richard Fox.
“Butterflies are a key indicator species; when they are in trouble we know that the wider environment is in trouble too. Nature is sounding the alarm call. We must act now if we are to turn the tide on these rapid declines and protect species for future generations."
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