Wildlife enthusiasts in Herefordshire are being invited to help boost the numbers of a rare woodland butterfly this winter.
The Wood White is one of the UK’s fastest declining butterflies, so people are being asked to join wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation (BC) and the Forestry Commission on Sunday 22 January, to improve habitat for the butterfly at Wigmore Rolls, just south-west of Ludlow.
The butterfly needs wide, sunny rides within the woodland to feed and mate successfully and conservation work is needed to help create these conditions.
Further conservation events will take place between Ledbury and Hereford, including one at Siege Wood near the village of Woolhope on Thursday 26 January and another at Lea and Padget’s Wood in Fownhope on Tuesday 7 February.
BC’s Project Officer for the Wood White in the West Midlands, Rhona Goddard, said: “Only a few Wood White butterflies have been recorded at Siege Wood and Lea and Padget’s Wood throughout the whole of 2016, so this conservation work could save the butterfly from being lost at both sites entirely.
“Nearly half of all the UK’s Wood White sites are found within the West Midlands and events like this will help us to protect them and encourage the butterfly to spread to other areas.”
Volunteers will help by cutting back overgrown plants and weeds and creating the open, sunny conditions that the butterfly needs to thrive.
The Wood White is the smallest of the UK’s white butterflies and can be seen on the wing between May and early July. In warm years, a partial second brood can emerge around August.
Information on all conservation events can be found by emailing Rhona Goddard at @email or calling her on: 01746 762 364.
Making A Stand For The Wood White Butterfly
These events are part of the ‘Making a Stand for the Wood White’ project, which involves a number of partner organisations. Our thanks go to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), Forestry Commission, The Severn Waste Environmental Fund (SWEF), the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre (home of Grow, Cook, Learn), the Duchy of Cornwall, National Trust and English Heritage.