Why was the High Brown Fritillary endangered?
Over the last 50 years, the UK population of High Brown Fritillaries has declined rapidly, due a number of reasons-
- Woodland management and, more recently, the abandonment of marginal hill land. Butterflies need large areas of the countryside to survive in good numbers
- Habitats being overwhelmed by pressures from agriculture and development
- Climate change and nitrogen deposition from the atmosphere are almost certainly contributing to the High Brown’s demise.
Overall, the UK population has declined by 66% since the 1970s.
What's next?
The Trust is embarking on ambitious plans to develop 60 hectares of lowland heath and wood pasture – the butterfly’s principle habitat – to give it a fighting chance for the future. The project has been made possible thanks to a generous award of £100k made to the National Trust by Postcode Earth Trust, raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. This is part of an award of £750,000 this year towards several conservation projects and Heritage Open Days.
This project will focus on restoring parts of the natural landscape along the Exmoor and North Devon coast to make it more suitable for the butterfly and other wildlife including the Heath Fritillary, Nightjar and Dartford warbler will also benefit.
Thanks to your support the National Trust is working with its tenants and partners including Butterfly Conservation to reverse the alarming decline in UK wildlife, aiming to restore 25,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat by 2025.