A huge thank you to the 85,000 of you who took part in this year's Big Butterfly Count. You spent a combined total of four years counting butterflies in gardens, parks, school grounds and the countryside all over the UK, providing Butterfly Conservation with vital data about the state of some of our common butterflies and day-flying moths.
Sadly, the results show a hugely concerning decline in butterfly numbers, with the average number of butterflies spotted per 15-minute Count the lowest in the 14-year history of the Big Butterfly Count, and over 9,000 Counts were logged as seeing no butterflies at all.
While the weather has had a huge impact on our butterflies and moths this year, this is a further blow to populations which have already been devastated by habitat destruction and fragmentation, climate breakdown and pesticide use. That is why Butterfly Conservation has declared a Butterfly Emergency and is writng an open letter to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed, calling for the Government to declare a ‘Nature Emergency’ and, as a first step, to ban butterfly-killing neonicotinoid pesticides once and for all, with no exceptions.
An incredible 30,000 people have already joined the call - we only need 10,000 more to add their voice to reach our target. Add your name today and demand that the Government take urgent action for butterflies and moths before it's too late.
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