We face a £250,000 cut in multi-year government funding for our Threatened Species programme in England this year. This adds immense strain to our finite resources and endangers butterflies and moths if we cannot continue this work.
We need the help of our supporters to plug this shortfall to ensure vital conservation action can continue.
A major fundraising campaign begins on 12 June and your donations will be doubled. Will you help save butterflies and moths?
Butterflies and moths are facing escalating threats. In addition to habitat loss from development and land management changes, climate change is creating mounting pressure on our butterflies and moths.
Without sustained conservation action, our butterflies and moths are at risk of slipping towards extinction.
It has never been more important to support Butterfly Conservation. We urgently need the help of our supporters to plug this gap in funding to maintain momentum in conservation action and ensure we can improve the fortunes of our most threatened species. Our fundraising campaign begins on 12 June when your donations will be doubled.
What species need my help?
The Scarce Pug is under serious threat from extinction in the UK because of direct effects of climate change. Sea level rise and coastal erosion is destroying the habitats of this specialist moth. It’s foodplant, Sea Wormwood only grows on salt marshes and sea walls but these are being lost. What’s more, 2 out of 4 Sea Wormwood eating species are already extinct – time is now of the essence.
We must investigate the precise requirements of the moth to determine whether it is possible to establish new colonies at sites which are safer from the threats of sea level rise and coastal erosion. With your support we will ensure that the Scarce pug has a future in the UK.
The iconic Marsh Fritillary is one of the most threatened species of butterfly in the UK and Europe. It’s experienced severe declines because of habitat destruction and now climate change poses greater threats through habitat quality change. Increasingly severe droughts in summer are affecting the grassland the Marsh Fritillary caterpillar needs to grow and survive into adult hood.
With your help we can determine how best to counteract the effects of droughts to ensure this butterfly can continue to survive in the UK.
Once widespread across the UK, in England the White-spotted Sable is now only found in areas where Butterfly Conservation is working. Without our conservation action this moth will go extinct in our lifetime in England. Human-led habitat loss and neglect of the open woodlands the moth needs to thrive are causing declines. It is a priority of Butterfly Conservation to carry out more research into the lifecycle needs of this moth, to find out it’s specific habitat needs.
With your support we will inform new habitat management practices and create a sustainable future for the White-spotted Sable.
How will my donation help?
Your donations are the key to the futures of threatened butterflies and moths in the UK. Please consider a donation today to ensure we can continue to carry out research and conservation action by covering the shortfall brought around by the unexpected £250,000 loss in funding. This is funding we and our butterflies, moths and environment rely on.
Butterfly Conservation scientists have identified 71 species that require priority conservation action to avoid extinction. Your donations will help Butterfly Conservation ramp up activity, fill this shortfall and save butterflies and moths at landscape scales.
Your donations will be doubled at no extra cost to you thanks to a group of generous pledges and champion funders.
Head to our campaign page to make your donation on 12 June.
Donations to this appeal will support this project as well as other vital conservation projects across the UK. Any excess funds to this campaign will be used for other urgent conservation needs to save butterflies, moths and our environments across the UK.