Pearl-bordered Fritillary returns to Parkhurst

Conservation work in January this year

Excellent news from Parkhurst, the Pearl-bordered Fritillary population is recovering. This is in part thanks to conservation work Gift to Nature funded. Green Gym volunteers cleared swathes of ride edges to provide the essential habitat for this rare little butterfly.  The Pearl-bordered Fritillary is one of our most threatened species, principally due to the reduction in coppicing, the butterfly responds well to clearing work which provides their favourite food sources.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary courtesy of ukbutterflies.co.uk

Parkhurst is now back in Forestry Commission management after a lapse of a few years and has already undergone quite a transformation in 2009 which will lead to some interesting changes in the future.