'Urgent action needed' despite butterfly rise

Butterfly Conservation says the most-spotted butterfly in Lincolnshire was the large white

A charity has warned urgent measures are needed to reverse the long-term decline of butterflies, despite a 55 per cent increase in Lincolnshire this year.

Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count recorded more than 32,000 butterflies and day-flying moths in the county between 18 July and 10 August.

The charity said this year's hot summer had seen a UK-wide rise compared with 2024, but the numbers were not as high as expected.

Dr Richard Fox, head of science at the charity, said over 15 years the count had shown "more than twice as many widespread species have declined significantly than have increased".

Dr Fox added: "While most species had a better than average summer [this year], one-third of species fared poorly even in the generally beneficial weather.

"Last summer's results were the lowest we've seen and a stark warning that many of our common butterfly species are facing significant pressure from challenges linked to habitat loss, climate change and pesticide use."

While there has been "noticeably more butterflies" during this year's count, the figures suggested "it's actually been a pretty average year for them by modern standards", he said.

The charity says the Jersey tiger moth has had a record year and was recorded more widely and in higher numbers than ever before

"There remains a need for us to take urgent action to support our butterfly populations, including by improving the environment in which they live, restoring habitats and reducing pesticide use.

"Until we do these things we are unlikely to see a great recovery in butterfly numbers, regardless of how much the sun shines."

The charity said this summer more than 1,900 people counted the species in Lincolnshire and the most-spotted butterfly in the county was the large white.

It said more than 125,000 "citizen scientists" were involved in the count across the UK and recorded 1.7 million butterflies and moths, with the top five species being the large white, small white, gatekeeper, red admiral and meadow brown.

Winners and losers

The charity said across the UK, the large white and small white both recorded their best ever result, with the small tortoiseshell showing some improvement.

It said the Jersey tiger moth had a record year and was recorded more widely and in higher numbers than ever before.

However, it added the holly blue had its second worst count result on record, the common blue had its third worst result and the meadow brown had its fourth worst count result.

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