Working hard to secure a bright future for rare species of butterfly (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Working hard to secure a bright future for rare species of butterfly

11:15am Friday 19th June 2009

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Mike Bridgen reports on the work of the Butterfly Conservation charity.

THE sight of millions of butterflies arriving in the South of England recently caused much excitement.

The letters pages of many newspapers were busy as readers gave daily reports on the progress of the mass migration of Painted Ladies making their way to Scotland.

The good news is that similar sights are likely towards the end of the summer as they head south again to warmer climes.

For Dave Wainwright, North of England team leader for the Butterfly Conservation wildlife charity, the interest was particularly pleasing.

“They fly thousands of miles from North Africa and southern Europe, but this time were in particularly huge numbers,” said the man whose life revolves around helping the region’s butterflies and moths and their habitats.

North Yorkshire, Durham and brownfield sites on Teesside are home to some of the rarest species of butterflies – but their future is less certain.

“Butterflies have declined more rapidly than plants and birds and, for the rare species, the future is really in the balance,” said Mr Wainwright, who lives in Newton Aycliffe and joined Butterfly Conservation five years ago.

“The main problem is that their habitats are often too isolated for them to spread and multiply.”

Because of that, recent climate change does not appear to be of benefit to the rarer species. The weather also impacts on butterflies, with the past two years being particularly poor.

But, despite that, Mr Wainwright said common butterfly species were generally doing well in the North of England because the things they needed were widely available.

The warmer climate also means species which were previously not seen in the region have moved in.

He said: “I moved to the North-East 20 years ago and there are now easily six or seven species in abundance – such as the Brown Argus and Speckled Wood – which were not before.”

A large part of Mr Wainwright’s role is to work with landowners and farmers, as well as local authorities and similar bodies.

The North York Moors National Park Authority provided funding for Mr Wainwright to identify sites where the rare Pearl-bordered Fritillary is found in the Pickering and Kirkbymoorside area.

They like a mosaic of grassland and bracken, with lots of violets, but the successful local sites vary from abandoned quarry workings to areas of grazed heather.

“The species was fairly widespread, but underwent a catastrophic decline in the 1950s and 1960s,” said Mr Wainwright.

“We are not really sure why, but conifer plantings would not have helped and there was an intensification of grazing by sheep.

“The main problem today is that the sites are too isolated for them to spread naturally and there are probably below 100 in total a year.”

Now the sites have been identified, the national park is looking at funding a management scheme.

Butterflies are an indicator of the health of the countryside – if they are disappearing it shows something is not right, which could impact on invertebrates, birds and plants.

Mr Wainwright generally finds farmers and landowners are keen to help.

The Duke of Burgundy is another rare species found near Helmsley. They enjoy clearings in wooded areas and limestone grassland where there are lots of cowslips and primroses.

“There are a dozen colonies and numbers last year were the best for 15 years; they even spread back to a couple of sites they had been absent from,” said Mr Wainwright.

“We were a little worried about two traditional sites where they were not seen, but they live in low numbers and do vary from year to year – there are probably between 100 and 200 altogether.”

The rarest butterfly species in County Durham is the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, which is confined to six sites just off the A68 between Tow Law and Castleside.

Local farmers have allowed stretches of watercourses to be fenced off to keep sheep away from the marshy land the butterfly loves.

They and Mr Wainwright, who holds a PhD in ecology, have worked together for about seven years, and butterfly numbers have doubled over the past five to total 300 in a good year.

“They will be out again in the next week or two and it has all been achieved through the goodwill of the local farmers,” said Mr Wainwright.

Durham County Council, Natural England, the Environment Agency and Durham Wildlife Trust have also been involved.

On Teesside, there are some good brownfield sites where species such as the Dingy Skipper are found.

Such sites can often be wanted for development and job creation, which Mr Wainwright stressed Butterfly Conservation was not against.

“It is not our aim to halt progress or drive jobs away, but we will try to make sure alternative butterfly sites are available,” he said.

“Brownfield sites were manmade, so you can easily recreate them – it is natural habitats that you can’t.”

Butterfly Conservation has 50 staff and 14,000 members. It relies on volunteers to help with monitoring and recording, and with habitat management in winter.

Mr Wainwright, who works from the Low Barns Nature Reserve at Witton le Wear, is keen to hear from farmers, landowners and anyone interested in volunteering.

He can be contacted on 01388-488428, or via www.northeastbutterflies.org or www.yorkshirebutterflies.org.uk.

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