Butterflies in £74k boost

A four-year project to bring more butterflies to a Midland beauty spot has been given a £74,000 cash boost.

The Back To Orange Project aims to help conserve the fritillary butterflies for which the Wyre Forest in Kidderminster is well-known.

All fritillaries are predominantly orange, with a network of darker markings forming the chequered pattern from which it gets its name.

Fritillary butterflies are not common in Britain and some species are extremely rare.

The Wyre Forest is an important national and regional stronghold for the pearl-bordered fritillary and the silver-washed fritillary, even though 6,500 acres is all that survives of a wood that once stretched along the Severn Valley from as far as Worcester to Bridgnorth.

The project is being funded by the SITA Trust, which supports environmental projects. It will see essential habitat restoration work in six areas to maintain the strongholds of these fritillary butterfly species in the Wyre Forest.

The Forestry Commission, Butterfly Conservation and Natural England are all closely involved with the Back To Orange Project.

Dr Jenny Joy, Butterfly Conservation's regional officer for the West Midlands, said: "The project is a great opportunity to focus work on one of most important forests in the region. We are delighted to have this opportunity to extend the work in collaboration with the Forestry Commission and Natural England and to direct work on to a much larger range of butterflies and moths."

About 2,500 species of butterfly and moth have been recorded across the UK – and nearly half this number has been found in the Wyre Forest alone.