Welcome to the Wales Marsh Fritillary Recovery Partnership page. You can discover how to get involved in one of Butterfly Conservation’s most ambitious projects. 
Create a Wales-wide Marsh Fritillary Recovery Partnership, underpinned by regional Marsh Fritillary groups, to bring together and support existing conservation efforts, share knowledge, experience and best practice, and unite to prioritise and plan conservation efforts for the butterfly.
More about the Marsh Fritillary
The Marsh Fritillary is declining in Wales due to habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation. Mainly found across South, South-west and West Wales, with a limited distribution in North-west Wales, the butterfly is typically associated with wet grassland (Rhôs pasture) dominated by Purple Moor-grass, but also occurs on dune slacks, coastal grasslands, neutral grasslands and fens where its larval foodplant, Devil’s-bit Scabious occurs.
The Marsh Fritillary exists as metapopulations, comprising groups of local populations connected by occasional dispersal. This means that the butterfly needs a network of well-connected habitat to thrive.
Natural Resources Wales state that semi-natural grassland declined by more than 90% during the latter part of the 20th Century; semi-natural grasslands occupy about 9% of the land area of Wales. Marsh Fritillary is an effective indicator of success in relation to assessing management interventions on Rhôs pasture habitat. This project will provide baseline data to assess the impact of future interventions on Marsh Fritillary habitat, on and around Wales' protected sites.
(Image credit: PONT)
Everyone, including individuals, land owners and managers, community groups, specialist surveyors, Local Nature Partnerships, businesses, conservation organisations, statutory agencies, government and councils across Wales, with an interest in the Marsh Fritillary and nature, are invited to take part in the project.