News from the gardening world
Watching wildlife is good for your health as well as conservation
Sir David Attenborough is urging gardeners and the public to get involved in counting butterflies in their gardens to help boost their mental health as well as assisting conservation.
The Butterfly Conservation charity is embarking on its annual Big Butterfly Count to try to assess the state of the nation’s favourite flying insect.
“I’ve been privileged to have witnessed some truly breathtaking wildlife spectacles in far-flung locations, but some of my most memorable experiences have happened when I’ve been simply sitting and watching the wildlife that lives where I do,” said Sir David, the charity’s president.
“A few precious moments spent watching a stunning red admiral or peacock butterfly feeding among the flowers in my garden never fails to bring me great pleasure.”
The Big Butterfly Count is the world’s largest butterfly survey, which encourages people to spot and record 17 species of common butterflies and two day-flying moths until August 12.
The UK’s butterflies are currently basking in the best summer conditions for more than a decade. Species such as holly blue, the common whites, red admiral and common blue could all be well represented, but the charity says that if the hot weather continues the consequences could be catastrophic for butterflies as plants wither and the next generation of butterflies collapses, as they did in the last big drought in 1976.
To take part, find a sunny spot anywhere in the UK and spend just 15 minutes counting the butterflies you spot, then submit your sightings online at www.bigbutterflycount.org or via the free Big Butterfly Count app.