{"id":1701,"date":"2026-05-26T14:16:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T13:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/?p=1701"},"modified":"2026-05-26T14:17:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T13:17:24","slug":"britains-butterflies-facing-serious-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/2026\/05\/26\/britains-butterflies-facing-serious-decline\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain&#8217;s butterflies facing serious decline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This blog has been adapted from a post shared by <a href=\"https:\/\/barbour-ehs.com\/newsletter\/\">Barbour EHS<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/05\/image-1-1024x683.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1703\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/05\/image-1-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/05\/image-1-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/05\/image-1-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2026\/05\/image-1.png 1170w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo Source: Amy Baugess on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A recent volunteer-led survey has revealed that British butterflies are in danger, with over half a century of data revealing that more than half of the UK\u2019s butterfly species are in decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the influx of warmer weather, which typically benefits the species, butterflies who rely on certain plants and habitats to survive have struggled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From 1976, there have been more than 44 million butterfly sightings scientifically collected in Britain, ranging in a diverse 58 native species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, out of these 33 species have taken a recognisable decline, whilst the remaining 25 species have flourished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Essentially this is due to global heating only benefitting a selection of butterfly species, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The purple emperor<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Red admiral<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Comma<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rarer species are left vulnerable, as they are dubbed \u2018habitat specialist\u2019 butteflies, meaning they rely on specific plants or habitats such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wetlands<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Woodlands<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Flower-rich grasslands<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These environments are under constant pressure, and the lack of availability has left butterflies with unsuitable habitats to colonise in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This has led to dramatic declines in species such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The high brown fritillary<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pearl-bordered fritillary<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>White-letter hairstreak<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The data has been collected by the <a href=\"https:\/\/ukbms.org\/\">UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme<\/a>, a citizen science project that has collected more than 44 million records over 50 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What can you do to support butterfly biodiversity?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">1) Plant butterfly-friendly flowers<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Butterflies need nectar from flowers. Try and choose:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"color: initial\">Native plants<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"color: initial\">Nectar-rich flowers like lavender, marigolds and daisies<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A mix that blooms from spring to autumn so food is always available<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2) Support caterpillars<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Butterflies lay eggs on specific plants that caterpillars eat<ul><li>Avoid removing all \u2018messy\u2019 plants \u2013 some are essential for their life cycle<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For example, nettles support species like the Peacock butterfly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">3) Create safe habitats<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Let part of your garden grow wild with long grass<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Leave logs, leaf piles or hedges where butterflies can shelter<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provide sunny spots \u2013 they need warmth to fly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">4) Get involved<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Join citizen science projects such as the butterfly count or upskill yourself with our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lboro.ac.uk\/services\/sustainability\/events\/2026\/biodiversity-literacy-training-july-2026\/\">Biodiversity Literacy Training<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This blog has been adapted from a post shared by Barbour EHS. A recent volunteer-led survey has revealed that British butterflies are in danger, with over half a century of data revealing that more than half of the UK\u2019s butterfly species are in decline. Despite the influx of warmer weather, which typically benefits the species, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":762,"featured_media":1703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"lboro_blog_alternative_thumbnail_image":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biodiversity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/762"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1701"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1705,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1701\/revisions\/1705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}