The UK is invited to choose its inaugural butterfly champion by wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation
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The UK is home to 60 species of butterfly – from the Red Admiral to Holly Blue – but which individual is the nation’s favourite?
Today, wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation is launching the first-ever vote to crown Britain’s most-loved butterfly. From Friday 15 May to Sunday 7 June, people across the country are being asked to pick the butterfly they love most.
With a plethora of species to choose from, Butterfly Conservation has today launched a dedicated website with fun facts about every single species, where people can cast their vote and even take a fun ‘what’s your butterfly personality?’ quiz to choose their champion.
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The charity hopes to encourage children and adults to pay attention more to butterflies this summer, reconnect with nature and celebrate the diversity and importance of the UK’s most iconic insects.
‘It’s clear Britain is a nation of butterfly lovers. From Sir David Attenborough and the Royal Family, to the hundreds of thousands of people who have taken part in Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count, these incredible insects hold a very special place in our hearts,’ said chief executive of Butterfly Conservation, Julie Williams.
‘Now, for the first-time ever, we want to find out which of our much-loved butterflies takes the nation’s top spot. From the colourful to the quirky, the common to the elusive, all butterflies are beautiful, and we look forward to officially crowning Britain’s favourite.’
In a recent survey, butterflies were voted Britons’ most-loved creatures in childhood. However, these insects are threatened by habitat loss, land use change and climate breakdown – in the last 50 years, 80 per cent of all species have declined.
However, all is not lost. Recent scientific evidence proves that, as well as benefiting our well-being, as little as 15 minutes of watching butterflies can increase people’s feelings of being connected to nature, which has a direct correlation with how motivated they are to protect it. In short, time spent simply enjoying the act of spotting butterflies could play a vital role in nature’s recovery.
Sir David Attenborough, Butterfly Conservation’s president, said: ‘No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced.’
‘A few precious moments spent watching a stunning red admiral or peacock butterfly feeding [see above] among the flowers in my garden never fails to bring me great pleasure.’
