Butterfly restoration project wins inaugural award
A long-term project to restore the endangered pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly to the Trossachs has won an inaugural conservation award.
The Cribb-Lonsdale Award, presented by the Council of the Amateur Entomologists’ Society (AES) in recognition of a substantial insect conservation project within the UK, has gone to The Trossachs Pearl-bordered Fritillary Restoration Project.
Centred on land around Loch Katrine managed by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) the project’s success has largely been due to the ongoing survey work of entomologist Nick Cooke, supported by Butterfly Conservation and teams of volunteers.
The award was presented to Nick, whose environmental consultancy CLEAR Services first began monitoring favourable habitat for the butterfly in the area over fifteen years ago.
More recently, Nick has co-ordinated the multi-agency Trossachs Pearl-bordered Fritillary Restoration Project, which includes Butterfly Conservation and the land managers RSPB Scotland, Woodland Trust Scotland and FLS, which worked together on The Great Trossachs Forest (TGTF) native woodland restoration project, planting 1.5 million trees across an area the size of Glasgow.
Nick Cooke said:
“What has marked out this project has been the commitment among the TGTF partners to fresh approaches and using new methodology to help us rediscover this special butterfly and learn about the habitat requirements for its long-term conservation.
“It would not have been possible to sustain a wide-ranging work programme over a number of years without a partnership approach being adopted. This bodes well for the future of the Pearl-bordered Fritillary as an integral part of the Great Trossachs Forest story.
“Above all, the successful outcome of the project is largely due to the skill and commitment of the many volunteers who have carried out the field work on the ground, sometimes covering difficult terrain, to locate and survey key sites, monitor the butterfly colonies, and carry out essential bracken and scrub management.”
A very fussy species, the Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly requires sunny hillsides near woodland, with light bracken cover and violets – the only plant that the caterpillars will eat. It is expected that as more native trees are allowed to seed and grow naturally at Loch Katrine, more land will become suitable for this elusive butterfly.
The continued rise of the Pearl-bordered Fritillary in the Trossachs is even more significant because it is in stark contrast to its fortunes elsewhere. The species saw a 91% fall in its UK distribution between 1982 and 2019, making this a top priority for conservation work.
Katy Anderson, FLS Environment Forester in the area, said;
“This is a lovely accolade for a project that has shown how the combined experience, skills and resources - and the invaluable help of volunteers – can make a real difference.
“At the outset of the project, it was feared that the butterfly had become extinct in the region, as it had not been sighted in over four decades. Yet after years of searching the butterfly was eventually rediscovered at the eastern end of Loch Katrine.
“Since its remarkable rediscovery, project partners have been undertaking work to help boost populations further, and allow the Pearl-bordered Fritillary to spread through the landscape.
“Nick and the volunteers have been instrumental in providing us with the information that has helped us target the habitat improvement works, which together with new native woodland, have helped create a thriving population of Pearl-bordered Fritillary in the area.”
Anthony McCluskey, Conservation Manager with Butterfly Conservation, said:
“It is a joy to see Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterflies doing so well in this region, especially after apparently coming so close to extinction in the Trossachs. It has already been lost from the great majority of its former range, and I am glad to be working with the project partners to help the species spread through this landscape. It also helps that this is one of our most beautiful butterflies, and one that I hope more people get to see in future if it continues to thrive here.”
Notes to editors
- Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) manages forests and land owned by Scottish Ministers in a way that supports and enables economically sustainable forestry; conserves and enhances the environment; delivers benefits for people and nature; and supports Scottish Ministers in their stewardship of Scotland's national forests and land.
- Media enquiries to media@forestryandland.gov.scot