The Warwickshire branch of Butterfly Conservation has an active committee and a team of dedicated volunteers. Our membership has steadily increased year on year as more and more people in our region become acutely aware of the plight of our butterflies and moths, and the declining state of the natural environment.
Through the branch network, countless volunteers carry out thousands of hours of practical conservation tasks every year, managing our butterfly reserve at our Ryton Wood Meadows butterfly reserve. They also help care for and manage other important butterfly sites across the region in association with a range of partners and landowners. Volunteers record and monitor butterflies and moths, organise field trips for our members, and raise awareness of butterflies and moths through events and fundraising activities.
History of the Warwickshire branch of Butterfly Conservation
Warwickshire was once part of the West Midlands branch of Butterfly Conservation which covered Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and
At our inaugural meeting in March 1997 we had 50 members, enough to make the branch viable and by 2003, membership stood at 100. In February 2019, after celebrating 50 years of Butterfly Conservation in 2018, the Warwickshire branch reached an important milestone having for the first time reached 500 active branch members.
Ryton Wood Meadows Butterfly Reserve officially opened on the 28th May 2007
After several years of diplomatic effort with the owners LaFarge and Butterfly Conservation HQ, the branch was finally able to announce that it had acquired its first butterfly reserve.
Ryton Wood Meadows Butterfly Reserve was officially opened on the 28th May 2007 by Dr Martin Warren, then Chief Executive of Butterfly Conservation and Mike Slater, Reserve Manager.
2009 saw the beginning of two major conservation projects for Warwickshire.
The Small Blue Project designed to ensure major habitat restoration took place in many sites in and around the Southam area with the aim to restore the fortunes of the Small Blue, Grizzled Skipper, Green Hairstreak, Dingy Skipper and Chalk Carpet moth.
Major woodland coppicing and thinning took place on sites around the greater Princethorpe area to make these areas once again fit for Fritillaries and other coppice-loving species such as the Wood White and Grizzled Skipper as part of the Midlands Fritillary Project.
2022 saw the publication of 'Butterfly Conservation: The Warwickshire Approach'
This book, written by Mike Slater and Keith Warmington, documents, celebrates and shares the many successes the Warwickshire Branch of Butterfly Conservation has had in conserving our rarer butterflies over the past 25 years. It is a manual of techniques, tips and ideas that will help and hopefully inspire others to create and manage habitats and to conserve butterflies.
In addition, the book outlines the fieldcraft that is required to provide the best chance of finding adult butterflies and their immature stages, provides tips on how to identify the difficult species and suggests how to get the maximum enjoyment from your butterfly encounters.
