Lighter woods 'boost butterflies'

The charity said Wood White butterflies were down by 72% over 30 years

Overgrown and neglected woods across the south of England are to be turned into lighter, sunnier places in a bid to encourage back butterflies.

A £900,000 three-year conservation scheme run by Butterfly Conservation is under way to promote better woodland management among landowners.

The charity manages three sites in the South - in Kent, Sussex, and on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border.

It said the region, despite being built-up, is still 14% woodland.

But the charity said wooded areas had become overgrown, lacking both sunlight and plants that caterpillars feed on and butterflies rely on for nectar.

Project manager Dr Dan Hoare said that butterflies were "disappearing fast" in the South and that creating large tracts of healthy woodland landscape would help them thrive.

BUTTERFLY LOSS OVER 30 YEARS Wood White 72% Purple Emperor 64% Duke of Burgundy 50% Heath Fritillary 38% Silver-washed Fritillary 38% Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary 38%

He said: "Woods needn't be all dark and oppressive. We need light and we need butterflies. It's about actively managing woodland.

"Most people don't realise that to manage a wood properly you need to cut some trees down from time to time."

Dr Hoare said many pearl-bordered fritillary butterflies had been seen this year at Tytherley Woods, the site on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border which is managed by the charity.

He said the rare butterflies had been given a boost by the recent sunshine.

The charity also runs two other sites, at Rother Woods, near Rye, and Denge Woods, near Canterbury.

He said conservation workers would help to show woodland owners what could be achieved and what grants were available.

The project was the largest seen in Britain, both financially and in its geographical scale, Dr Hoare added.

The project covers Kent, Surrey, Hampshire, Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.