Butterfly campaigners call for repeal of ‘outdated’ Weeds Act to preserve rare species

THISTLES, dock plants and ragwort should be protected to save rare butterflies, a conservation charity has said.

Butterfly Conservation has joined the campaign to repeal the 1959 Weeds Act, which identifies some plants useful to pollinators as weeds – and allows for their large-scale destruction and prevention of their growth.

The Act aims to prevent the spread of broadleaved dock, common ragwort, creeping thistle, curled dock and spear thistle, and lays down measures of enforcement.

But Butterfly Conservation argues these plants are vital to butterflies and moths. Many rare breeds which rely on docks and thistles are in decline.

Many butterflies protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 have their caterpillars destroyed by the Weeds Act. This has been labelled by campaigners as a “bizarre situation”.

Dr Phil Sterling, of Butterfly Conservation, said: “Butterflies, moths and other pollinating insects are undergoing worrying declines and the Weeds Act contributes to destruction of the wildflowers on which they depend.

“The Act is 70 years old and, frankly, showing its age so it’s high time we removed it from the statute book.”

Almost 8,000 people have signed a petition on Parliament’s website, asking for the Act to be repealed. It reads: “The Weeds Act 1959 was devised when agriculture was less sophisticated … and there was little scientific justification even then for the five native wildflowers it targeted. The Weeds Act still drives the over-tidiness & sterility of our rural landscapes.”

A Defra spokesman said: “We are working hard to support our flies and other pollinators.

“Since 2011, we have helped to put aside over 150,000 hectares of wildliferich habitat. Our 25-year Environment Plan commits us to create or restore 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites as part of a Nature Recovery Network.” butter