Britain 'set for bumper year' for butterflies
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- Butterfly Conservation, based at East Lulworth in Dorset, launched its Big Butterfly Count on Friday, with the 2026 event running from 17 July to 9 August and asking the public to spend 15 minutes a day logging butterflies and moths at a chosen spot via website or app
- The charity said a hot and dry spring has already produced an increase in several species across the UK
- Dr Dan Hoare, Butterfly Conservation's director of nature recovery, said he had seen three or four species in southern England 'wandering away from their normal places' and called it an opportunity for them to 'colonise and reach out to new places'
- Prof Helen Roy of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the University of Exeter said the butterfly uptick may signal other insect species are thriving too
- Roy noted butterfly populations have been in long-term decline since the 1970s, driven by habitat destruction and degradation
- Initiatives like No Mow May have been 'encouraging,' Roy said, and people can help by letting gardens become 'messy' and 'diverse' to create a patchwork of insect habitats across the country
Why it matters: The count functions as both a citizen-science drive and a real-time barometer for UK insect recovery after decades of decline dating back to the 1970s. Public-contributed data gathered through 9 August 2026 will show whether the spring's species expansion holds and whether grassroots efforts like letting gardens grow wild are measurably moving the needle for butterflies and other insects.
