You're being asked to help record butterfly numbers across Rutland and Stamford to help conservationists understand where best to target their resources.
The Big Butterfly Count is underway from this weekend until the 10th of August and speaking at last weekend's Global Birdfair at Rutland Water, Sophie Hall, from Butterfly Conservation, is encouraging as many people as possible to take part.
‘It's our annual citizen science project that anyone can take part in. It's really easy to get involved in, kids, anyone. Get out into your gardens, into allotments, any green spaces, and all you have to do is spend 15 minutes counting the type of butterflies that you see and the number of butterflies that you see. Last year we found actually it was the worst year on record for butterfly numbers. We had a complete dip and we know that butterfly numbers are declining across the UK. In fact our wider monitoring schemes show that half of our UK species are in decline. So it's really, really important that we have as much data as we can so we can carry out conservation work. So we're really encouraging people to get out there. Get involved in the Big Butterfly Count and help us collect that data. All you need to do is download our app so head to the android store Apple and download the Big Butterfly Count app or you can head to bigbutterflycount.org as well’.
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