Protecting the Vale’s rarest butterfly
Dot Williams, a conservation development manager with Natur am Byth, visited Cowbridge U3A recently to give a presentation on the work of Wales’s ‘Green Recovery’ project.
This involves nine environmental charities working with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to save species from extinction and reconnect people to nature.
As well as 11 areas of Wales (two of them marine) that have been identified as needing protection, there are 62 species of animals that are deemed at risk. These include curlews, choughs, lesser horseshoe bats, water voles, shrill carder bees and adders.
The Alun Valley, between Ewenny and St Bride’s Major in the Vale, supports what is thought to be the last population in Wales of the high brown fritillary butterfly. Two other species of fritillary are also found there, the dark green and small pearl-bordered.
The high brown breeds in two main habitat types: bracken, where the larval food plants (common dog violets) grow, and woodland clearings on limestone outcrop. The latter is believed to be restricted to the Lake District, and all the Welsh sites are bracken-covered slopes. The bracken cannot be too thick, otherwise the violets are swamped, so habitat management needs to be undertaken. This work is mainly done by volunteers.
The high brown fritillary butterfly is on the wing in June and July in Wales. 2020 was a good summer for most butterflies, but while 2021 showed a 43% decrease in high brown fritillary numbers in the Alun Valley compared with the previous year, it was still the sixth best count for 26 years.
Dot Williams also showed a couple of short videos during her presentation; the first showed how quickly the spiky high brown fritillary caterpillar can eat a violet leaf. The second film was of two male adders competing for dominance.
There are plans to involve local schools in growing dog violets to increase the number of seeds sown on areas like Old Castle Down. It is hoped that liaison with the landowners and the commoners will lead to the creation of more defined paths to improve access, while reducing trampling. The introduction of cattle grazing would aid habitat management.
What can you do? Volunteering to help manage the Alun Valley land would be greatly appreciated, but gardening for butterflies in general, especially by growing nectar-rich plants, would help the whole species thrive. Contact dwilliams@butterfly-conservation.
SPM
🌟 This article first appeared in the printed edition of the Glamorgan Star on 05.05.22
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