Butterfly planting project brings hope to a rare species in Devon

In the same year that Butterfly Conservation declared a ‘Butterfly Emergency’, local school children and community groups are growing Dog Violets, the primary food source of the rare Peal Bordered Fritillary, in their schools and homes as part of a restoration project at the National Trust’s Ashclyst Forest in Devon.

Ashclyst Forest forms part of the National Trust’s Killerton Estate near Exeter and was once a stronghold of the threatened butterfly. However, despite extensive work to improve the habitat quality for butterflies in the forest, there have been no sightings of the Pearl Bordered Fritillary for three years.

School children and members of the community have planted 1,000 seeds and tended to them on their windowsills at home and in school. Children have planted the first batch of Dog Violets in the forest and this process will continue for at least 2 years, alongside butterfly monitoring to support the return of the threatened butterfly.

Anna Harrison, National Trust nature engagement officer said: "Preventing nature’s decline is vital, but we can’t do this without involving the next generation of nature-lovers. With thanks to our local primary schools, we have made a promising start to increasing the number dog-violet flowers across woodland rides, which we hope will provide food for a restored population of Pearl Bordered Fritillary butterflies in years to come. Involving local school children in this work not only supports species, but crucially benefits young people’s wellbeing and relationship with our woodlands into adulthood.”

Karl Hemming, teacher at Stoke Canon Primary School said: “It has been an amazing and valuable experience for the children to learn about a threatened species of butterfly. After learning about the significance of the Pearl Bordered Fritillary's role within an ecosystem the children have been involved firsthand in a project aiming to increase the population. The children have really engaged with the project and as they have been involved from the germination stage to the planting stage feel they have really made a difference to their local environment. They cannot wait to go back to Ashclyst in the Summer to see the final impact of their project.”

Nationally, butterfly numbers are at their lowest and this matters because they are a key indicator of a healthy environment and a healthy ecosystem. Habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change are all impacting the population numbers. In recent years, the Pearl-bordered Fritillary has seen its national population dwindle to just 5% of what it was in 1970.