Wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation has declared a national ‘Butterfly Emergency’ after the results of this summer’s Big Butterfly Count showed a marked decline in butterfly numbers. Overall, participants spotted just seven butterflies on average per 15-minute Count, a reduction of almost 50% on last year’s average of 12, and the lowest in the 14-year history of the Big Butterfly Count. Butterflies are a key indicator species and their absence suggests a general decline in biodiversity.
Butterfly Conservation point the finger at the use of agricultural chemicals, and particularly the insect killing neonicotinoids, and are calling on the Government for a complete ban on the use of these insecticides. You can sign their letter and call on the Government to act now.
The Lewes Mosaic Project’s Allotment Biodiversity Advisor, Helen Sida, and volunteers carried out two timed 15 minute Big Butterfly Counts on the 2nd August at Haredean allotments. The warm and sunny conditions were good for butterflies and during one of the counts they spotted 22 butterflies and 7 different species (18 butterflies and 6 species in the other).
In a related report from Brighton based Pesticide Action Network, researchers found that since leaving the EU, safety limits of pesticide residues in food in the UK have been weakened, giving an incentive to countries that export food to the UK to increase the use of harmful pesticides like neonicotinoids, increasing the damage these chemicals cause worldwide:
“The changes [in safety limits] also pose a risk to the environment in countries where our food is grown. Strict safety limits force foreign growers exporting to Britain to keep pesticide residues to a minimum, or risk their exports being rejected for not meeting GB legal requirements. Under these latest changes wheat and oats are allowed to contain far larger amounts of neonicotinoids, the pesticides notorious for driving global declines in pollinator populations. In contrast to the UK, neonicotinoids remain legal in most major oat producing countries (such as the US, Canada and Australia) and weakened UK safety limits risk driving an increase in their use and associated harms.”
