On the 13th and 14th June we held two workshops, in Ennerdale & Wasdale on butterfly habitats, how to create them and how farmers can benefit from having them on their land.
We would like to thank Martin Wain, from the Butterfly Conservation for coming a long and speaking about the benefits of making room for butterflies on our land. It was so interesting learning all about caterpillars, butterflies & moths.
The Countryside Stewardship SP9 Threatened Species Supplement worth £204 per hectare (ha) could be used for areas where rare species of butterfly or moth have been identified. First of all, there needs to be the habitat and plants that allow these rare species to survive.
We visited two successful habitats on farms, discussing how grazing sheep or cattle at certain times of the year could work well with the butterfly conservation that was already in place and even spotted some rare butterflies. We also visited a potential new site to create and manage a butterfly habitat without loosing the sheep grazing.
The Butterfly Conservation Trust can work with farmers to help monitor the species over a 5-year period if applying for SP9, we would encourage farmers to contact us if they have any more questions.