Welcome
Northern Ireland offers a rich landscape of mountains, meadows, forests, rivers, lakes, islands and many, many miles of scenic coastline.
Although only covering 6% of the land area of the UK, the country is rich in moth and butterfly species including one that can only be found here and not in wider Great Britain.
Northern Ireland is famous for many reasons, but the butterflies and moths that are found here should definitely be one of them. Although home to only 25 species of butterfly, almost half of these are priority species. One of these, the Cryptic Wood White (thought to be Real's Wood White until recent research proved it to be a new species entirely) is only found in Northern Ireland and not elsewhere in the UK. Craigavon Lakes Local Nature Reserve in County Armagh is the very best place to visit to see this butterfly on the wing during May and June.
There are almost 1000 different types of moth in Northern Ireland. These secretive creatures are most often active at night, although many fly during the day. However as it is a common 'moth myth' that moths are small and brown, if spotted, many day-flying moths are thought be some sort of butterfly as they are often very brightly coloured and patterned.
Species to look out for
How to get involved
Want to get involved with our conservation work in Northern Ireland? There are plenty of ways you can help:
Volunteering
Branch events
Do it yourself
Funders
BC Northern Ireland are grateful to the Northern Ireland Environment Agency who have funded our work in Northern Ireland since 2002.
News
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Ready, Steady, Quiz!!
Our brand new Butterfly Conservation quiz launches today, test your knowledge on a wide variety of butterfly and moth related questions!
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Get creative for nature for a chance to win!
Do you love nature and want to make sure it’s protected? Enter our competition to design a banner for the Restore Nature Now demonstration in London.
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Treasure hunters wanted to help find one of the rarest jewels in Northern Ireland wildlife
Nature lovers asked to get photos of beautiful ‘colour-changing’ moth.
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Gardeners back less frequent lawn mowing, poll finds, as ‘No Mow May’ begins
Almost half of gardeners do not plan to mow their lawn more than once in May, a survey suggests, as Plantlife’s annual campaign to boost nature in gardens kicks off.
Volunteer with us
Butterfly Conservation relies on the support of thousands of volunteers, and we are always looking for more help inside the office and out in the field. Whether you want to volunteer at a local branch, get outside and help manage our nature reserves, or help with one of our events, we have something for everyone to get involved in! Your time can make a real difference.