October- information

Big Butterfly Count Results Are In!

Butterflies and moths are excellent indicators of the impacts of climate change and other human environmental factors, so collecting data on their numbers is really important!

As a result of the records sent to us, we now know that last year’s drought hasn’t been as bad for butterflies as we had feared. The wetter summer experienced across most of the UK this year has helped our butterflies, as there have been more nectar sources for the adult butterflies and foodplants available for caterpillars.

Over 1.5 million of these beautiful insects were recorded during this year’s Big Butterfly Count – more butterflies and moths were spotted than over the last four years. That’s an average of 12 per Count, up from an all-time low of just 9 in 2022.

We recorded 18 butterflies during the count, so we are doing some things well!

But there is also some alarming news that has been revealed by the survey's long term trends.

Over the last 13 years of Big Butterfly Count, many species of butterflies have significantly declined. Species loss is happening in our own backyard. Plenty of common British butterflies are in trouble: the Green-veined White has had the most severe Big Butterfly Count decline in the longer term with a decrease of 61%, the Ringlet has seen a decrease of 40% and another garden favourite, the Small Tortoiseshell, has seen a decline of almost 30%.

Protecting butterflies and moths is now more urgent than ever!

After narrowly failing to change the minds of the Broads Authority about retrospective planning permission for the use of our yurt on the woodland, we believe the process was flawed. We are now appealing to the Secretary of State to have the decision overturned. Since taking over the woodlands in 2019 we have increased the biodiversity on site from 600+ to 935+.

We should be receiving a start date for the appeal soon. If you feel able to write in support of our appeal, we would really appreciate it. Without the yurt to use for sleeping and education purposes, we will not be able to continue our efforts to help biodiversity and helping to save the planet for the future.

The letters should be emailed to cat@planninginspectorate.gov.uk with the subject: Planning Inspectorate APP/E9505/W/23/3321331: Land off Ferry Lane, NR13 5HL

The content should make it clear where you have also written in support of the application and whether you would like the content of your original letter of support to be taken into account and if there are additional points you wish to raise.

If you would like more details on this, please contact us on stevehooper50@gmail.com