Fritillary butterflies boost in Devon

07/07/2010 10:35:36 Landfill gives butterflies a boost
July 2010. Devon Wildlife Trust has been awarded £257,469 to help boost numbers of fritillary butterflies on Dartmoor.
The trust has been awarded the money (spread over three years) by Viridor Credits Environmental Company, through the Landfill Communities Fund. It will go towards conservation work at five of the charity's key nature reserves: Blackadon, Dart Valley, Dunsford, Emsworthy on Dartmoor and Marsland on the north coast of the county.

Alpine tractor
The much needed grant will enable the charity to purchase an alpine tractor which is specially designed for safe use on steep slopes like those found in Dartmoor's valleys, along with quad bike, enabling them to better manage the sites for these rare and threatened species. The grant will also support training and survey work which will be carried out over the period to monitor the success of the project.

Marsland Nature Reserve - Big increase in rare butterflies
The habitat management techniques for much of the conservation work have been developed over the past 20 years by Senior Reserves Officer Gary Pilkington at DWT's Marsland Nature Reserve. Numbers of small pearl and pearl bordered fritillaries have increased dramatically over that period, bucking the national trend of decline. It focuses on managing areas of bracken to increase room for violets, the fritillaries' food plant, which growing beneath.

Matt Boydell, DWT's Land Management Manager said: "This is a significant boost for us and will help us manage these more difficult sites and create and expand the habitats which these butterflies thrive on. The project focuses on the management of south facing bracken slopes increasing spring-flowering plant species including violets and bugle which are the food plants of the larvae and adults."