Supporting British Wildlife

Adonis Blue Butterflies in Suffolk
Charity: Sussex Wildlife Trust
Project: Adonis Blue Butterfly Recovery Project on Malling Down
Grant: £5,000
Image courtesy Paul Marten

The Adonis Blue butterfly is the fussiest of eaters, feeding on just one plant, the horseshoe vetch. And that plant only grows on short grass growing on chalky downs. With a £5,000 grant the Sussex Wildlife Trust is restoring the chalky Malling Down. By removing scrub, and bring in sheep to graze, the Trust is encouraging the vetch plant to grow again and the butterfly to flourish.

Owls in Somerset
Charity: Hawk & Owl Trust
Project: Community Owls Project
Grant: £5,000
Do you know your Little Owl from your Barn Owl or Tawny Owl? The Hawk and Owl Trust is teaching community volunteers in Somerset all about their local owl species, from how to identify and survey them to how to build the birds a nest box. The community-led conservation effort should protect the owls from changes in land use and other threats. We are supporting it with a £5,000 grant.

Horseshoe Bats in Gloucestershire
Charity: Woodchester Mansion Trust Ltd
Project: Horseshoe Bat Conservation Partnerships
Grant: £4,530
Greater and Lesser Horseshoe Bats are named because of the horseshoe-shaped flap of skin on their nose, which aids echolocation. Both species are rare.

With a grant of £4,530 the Woodchester Mansion Trust is enabling young children to study a roosting colony of around 180 Greater Horseshoe Bats and another of around 550 Lesser Horseshoe bats. The children get to go on bats walks, view the roosts over CCTV cameras and survey where the bats feed, raising their awareness of how to conserve these small mammals.

Black Hairstreak Butterflies in Northamptonshire
Charity: The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough
Project: Action for Hairstreaks Project
Grant: £4,986
Black Hairstreak’s are secretive, canopy dwelling butterflies, which are rarely seen at ground level, They have specific habitat requirements favouring dense blackthorn, glades and rides in sheltered, sunny positions.

These butterflies are protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act, being a species of conservation concern in Britain. Its specific habitat requirements restrict it to only 45 sites in the woodlands of the East Midlands.

With a grant of £4,986 the Wildlife Trust, with the help of local volunteers , is improving Glapthorn Cow Pastures and managing blackthorn through coppicing. This work will improve the habitat for the Black Hairstreak while also benefiting other priority species including the Nightingale and Pipistrelle Bat.

Back to top