Conservationists are warning of a “butterfly emergency”, as an annual citizen science survey for the insects clocked up its lowest numbers on record.
The Big Butterfly Count, organised by wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation over three weeks in the summer, gets members of the public to spend 15 minutes recording the butterflies they see in their garden, park or countryside.
But this year’s results were the worst in the count’s 14-year history, with participants spotting just seven butterflies on average per count, down almost half on last year’s average of 12, and the lowest the survey has seen.
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And 9,000 counts were logged as seeing no butterflies – the highest in the history of the citizen science scheme, which asks people to submit their results even if they do not see any of the insects in their 15-minute count.
(Image: PA)
Butterfly Conservation said it was the worst summer in the count’s history for butterflies including the common and holly blues, green-veined and small whites, small tortoiseshell, painted lady and Scotch argus.
And four-fifths (81%) of species showed declines in the number of butterflies this year compared to those seen in 2023. The charity says butterflies were hit by a wet spring and cool summer – but warn that the natural variations in numbers of insects, which are affected by the weather, come on top of long-term serious declines.
Dr Richard Fox, head of science at Butterfly Conservation, said declines are driven by loss of habitat in the 1970s and 1980s as it was ploughed up or built on, and ongoing degradation of the landscape since, including from pesticide pollution, while extreme weather from climate change is taking its toll.
He said UK must ban the chemicals, warning: “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.” He said the neonicotinoid ban on its own would not reverse the declines, but would have a positive impact on insects.
Butterflies are a key indicator species; when they are in trouble we know that the wider environment is in trouble too. In total, just over 935,000 butterflies and day-flying moths were recorded across the UK, in the period from July 12 to August 4, down more than a third on 2023’s figures.
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