Count the Butterflies

Have you signed up for The Big Butterfly Count? Why not come and count the butterflies on the Primrose Nature Reserve? After the poor results of 2024 the Butterfly Conservation have declared a butterfly emergency and they need your help to identify and record the butterflies you see.

You can join in between Friday 18th July and Sunday 10th August. Find a place to spot butterflies and moths, watch for 15 minutes and record what you see. Its important to record even the fact that you may not spot any.

How to take Part

You can download the butterfly ID chart or a free app for ios and Android to identify and record the butterflies you spot. The butterfly counts can be viewed on the interactive map.

Why Count Butterflies?

According to the charity Butterfly Conservation - We count butterflies because not only are they beautiful creatures to be around but they are also extremely important. They are vital parts of the ecosystem as both pollinators and components of the food chain. However, they are under threat. Numbers of butterflies and moths in the UK have decreased significantly since the 1970s. This is a warning that cannot be ignored.

Butterfly declines are also an early warning for other wildlife losses. Butterflies are key biodiversity indicators for scientists as they react very quickly to changes in their environment. Therefore, if their numbers are falling, then nature is in trouble. So tracking numbers of butterflies is crucial in the fight to conserve our natural world. That's why taking part in this massive citizen science enterprise is of great importance not just for our butterflies but for the wider environment and biodiversity in general.

So, thank you for taking the time to help!

Counting butterflies can be described as taking the pulse of nature and we depend on you, our citizen scientists, to help us assess how much help nature needs. The data from this and other counts will also help us to identify important trends in species that will assist us in planning how to protect butterflies from extinction, as well as understanding the effect of climate change on wildlife.

Find out more about Butterfly Conservation