Could nature reap the benefits of people holidaying at home?

Could nature reap the benefits of people holidaying at home? New wave of citizen scientists join His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales in this year’s Big Butterfly Count

The Big Butterfly Count, the world’s biggest butterfly survey run by the wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation, is well underway and more people than ever before took part in the first five days with the average number of counts submitted over double that of 2019 at 9,132 per day.

The Big Butterfly Count, which asks people to simply spend 15 minutes in any outdoor space recording the butterflies they see, has seen its best initial response from the general public since the project began over 10 years ago.

Dr Zoë Randle, Senior Surveys Officer at the conservation charity said: “The Big Butterfly Count has fallen at a time this year when so many of us have spent more time living and working in our homes and exercising in our local areas than ever before.

“We’re taking note for the first time, of just how abundant the nature is around us and how important it is to our wellbeing. We’d love this new wave of nature-conscious people to continue to give a little something back to our environment which has been a comfort to us all through the last few months.

“After all the sunny spring weather recently we saw almost every butterfly species emerge earlier than ever before in April and May. This means that those butterflies such as the Large and Small Whites, which have two generations in one season, will now be on their second generation and that’s why there’s so many out there to spot right now, along with plenty of other beautiful species.”

However, the charity is also urging people to keep counting as the more data that the general public can submit the better.

Zoë continues: “Butterflies are key indicators of the health of our environment and as factors like changing weather patterns and other human activity affect our local habitats and ecosystems, we need to understand what this means for nature.

“By understanding our butterfly populations, we are taking the pulse of nature.

“There’s no limit to how much data we can collect and we’re urging everyone to get involved, not just from gardens and parks, but from your window boxes, in our city streets and on your camping staycation holiday!

“So why not continue to take part while you holiday in the UK and see how your counts compare to ones taken at home?”

Completely mobile and a great activity for children as well as adults, counts can be submitted from anywhere in the UK and as many times as you like in as many places as you like using the free Big Butterfly Count app or website Bigbutterflycount.org. The Count runs until 9 August.

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales has already taken part in this year’s Big Butterfly Count, spotting Peacock, Holly Blue and Comma butterflies among others from his gardens at Highgrove and posting support for the Count on Twitter and Instagram.

Chris Packham, Vice-President of Butterfly Conservation said: “It’s really encouraging to see so many people recognising the importance of looking out for butterflies and our wider environment, but we need more counts so please do take part.

“The butterfly counts you make will truly contribute to science and help us understand how to conserve and protect our fantastic wildlife. My garden is brimming with butterflies this year, and once you’ve done one count, it’s hard to stop!”

This year the Big Butterfly Conservation is sponsored by B&Q as part of their sustainability programme as well as the DFN Foundation, a commissioning charity committed to influencing sustainable change in special needs education, supported employment, healthcare and conservation.