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Newsletter July 2024

Hello and welcome to the July edition of All Aflutter!

The summer finally seems to be making an appearance, and, after a disappointing year so far, we hope this means we will start to see more butterflies and moths in time for Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count 2024. In just one week’s time, people across the UK will be getting out into their Wild Spaces, parks and other local green areas to count butterflies and day-flying moths in what is the largest citizen science project of its kind in the world, and we hope you will be joining them. But before then, read on for an update on what happened at the Restore Nature Now demonstration in London, find out how much we raised in the Big Give and – just in case you missed it – discover how Hungry Hungarian Hogs are helping to save the UK’s most endangered butterfly. Plus, the Secret Gardener shares their top tips for last-minute additions to your Wild Space to bring in the butterflies!

One week until the Big Butterfly Count 2024! Join us from 12 July to 4 August

Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count 2024 is almost here! Join us next week as we and tens of thousands of people across the UK head out into Wild Spaces and local green areas to count butterflies and moths. Taking part is simple – head over to the website to grab your ID guides or to download the app, check that the sun is shining, pick your spot, and spend 15 minutes making a note of the number and types of butterflies and some day-flying moths you see. Then send us your results and we’ll do the rest!

The data you provide helps us understand how the UK’s butterflies and moths are doing and what measures we need to take to protect them. So, whether you have a herb-filled balcony or a sprawling garden meadow, add the 12 July to 4 August to your calendar and help us make the Big Butterfly Count 2024 the biggest yet…
 

Big Butterfly Count merchandise is here!

Why not wear Butterfly Conservation's newest Big Butterfly Count collection when you head out to do your Count?

Over 60,000 attend Restore Nature Now demonstration

On Saturday 22 June, Butterfly Conservation joined over 60,000 people and more than 350 charities, action groups and other organisations to march through central London and demand that the Government Restore Nature Now. Butterfly Conservation’s team was made up of staff, Trustees, members of our Youth Panel, volunteers, Branches, members and supporters – all led by a giant Marsh Fritillary (nicknamed Marshall) who proved incredibly popular with everyone from children wanting to take photographs with him, to those looking to confirm they’d correctly identified the giant butterfly floating through the streets of London!

A huge thank you to everyone who was able to attend the march and also to those who wrote to and challenged their local candidates on how they plan to Restore Nature Now. Read more about the march and find out what’s next. 

Hungry, hairy, Hungarian hogs helping to save the UK's most endangered butterfly

A Butterfly Conservation team working to save the UK's most endangered butterfly have recruited the help of some unique volunteers: hairy Hungarian hogs!

The team are using curly-haired Mangalitsa pigs at a National Trust site on Exmoor to create perfect habitat for the High Brown Fritillary, a species which has declined by 65% in numbers since 1978. The hogs act as living lawnmowers, trampling down aggressive shrubs and high-growing trees to make space for the High Brown caterpillars’ sole food plant, the Common Dog-violet.
 

Look out for these species in July:

Common Blue

Painted Lady

Garden Tiger

Jobs for July in your Wild Space

This month, the Secret Gardener shares what they’ll be doing in their Wild Space in July and gives their top tips for last-minute tweaks you can make to attract butterflies and moths in time for the Big Butterfly Count. 

Thank you!

Last month we featured our fundraising campaign with the Big Give, where all donations up to £60,000 would be matched. 

Thanks to you, our incredible supporters, we reached our target, with £63,000 raised. With match funding, that took the final total to £123,000. 

This crucial funding will go towards saving threatened species all over the UK. Butterflies and moths are facing unprecedented threats, but together we can make a difference.
 

Butterfly Conservation's database of butterflies & moths reaches 60 million records!

This week, Butterfly Conservation’s data team added their 60 millionth record to the databases of butterflies and moths. Making the 60 millionth spot was the Six-striped Rustic – a delicately patterned brown moth – which was recorded in Thurlstone in Yorkshire on 5 September 2023.
 
The databases, Butterflies for the New Millennium and the National Moth Recording Scheme, are made up of sightings gathered by dedicated volunteers and County Recorders across the UK, and participants in Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count each year, as well as historical records – the first of which dates back to 1741 when a Kentish Glory was recorded on 14 April.
 
A huge thank you to everyone who has submitted records of butterflies and moths. This data is absolutely critical to the conservation work we carry out and wouldn’t be possible without the passion and hard work of our recorders and verifiers.

Do you want to help collect vital data on butterflies and moths? Take part in Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count 2024 between 12 July and 4 August

Our promise to you
 

• We will never swap, sell or rent your details to anyone
• We will always follow the strict code of conduct set out by the Fundraising Regulator
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Photo credits: Marsh Fritillary (Iain H Leach). Six-striped Rustic moth (Dave Green)

Butterfly Conservation: Company limited by guarantee, registered in England (2206468)

Registered Office: Manor Yard, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset, BH20 5QP, Tel: 01929 400 209

Charity registered in England & Wales (254937) and in Scotland (SC039268)

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