£88,000 project to boost Wood White butterfly in Herefordshire

Wood white, credit Forestry Commission.

A grant of more than £88,000 has been awarded to the Forestry Commission by the SITA Trust to help safeguard the future of the beautiful and rare Wood White butterfly in Herefordshire, one of the few remaining strongholds for the species in Britain. Local community and conservation groups can now get more involved in helping wildlife on their doorstep by applying to the SITA Trust for funds to support their projects.

Wood White
The Wood White butterfly has become a rarer sight in England's countryside with numbers falling so low in the past decade that it is now considered endangered.

Coppicing and cutting back vegetation on forest rides provides the Wood White caterpillar's main food plants, bird's foot trefoil and meadow vetchling, a chance to flourish. Over the next three years, the Forestry Commission will team up with Butterfly Conservation to manage the ‘Wood White Project' across eight Forestry Commission woods in Herefordshire, including Shobdon Hill, Sned, Mere Hill, Wigmore and Mortimer Forests, Haugh Woods, Queenswood, Dymock and Lords Wood at the Doward.

Brian Hicks Wildlife Ranger for the Forestry Commission in North Herefordshire, says: "This is great news for the region's Wood White butterfly and means we can take immediate action to help protect the species for future generations to enjoy. We have a great relationship with Butterfly Conservation, which is hugely beneficial to the ongoing conservation work carried out in Forestry Commission woodland."

The Forestry Commission will carry out essential habitat restoration work to maintain the species' stronghold in the region for future generations and monitor their numbers.

Once work starts on the Wood White Project, local people and visitors will be encouraged to come along and enjoy their walk more as they watch the butterflies and see the improvements in these woodlands. The project will also collect valuable information about the life of butterflies and how they can thrive within our local woodlands.

Dramatic decline
In recent decades, there has been a dramatic decline in woodland butterflies, with many species disappearing from areas where enthusiasts have formerly known them to be. The abundance of butterflies in England's woodlands has dropped by 43% over the last 16 years, so with the help of the experts working alongside volunteers in projects such as this, their future is more certain.

The SITA Trust was set up in 1997 and runs three funding programmes. The ‘Wood White Project' has received a grant from the Enriching Nature Fund, which provides money for biodiversity projects within the vicinity of landfill sites in England.