PRESS RELEASE : Work to save rare British moth from extinction in England [August 2024]

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 9 August 2024.

The rare dark bordered beauty moth exists at one last known site in England – a military training area near York.

The Ministry of Defence is working with partners to save the moth from extinction while continuing to use the site to conduct essential training to keep Britain safe.

The Ministry of Defence owns most of the moth’s English habitat, Strensall Common, which is a 570-hectare area of open heathland, designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Lying east of the North Yorkshire village of Strensall, in the Vale of York, the site is used for military training, with some areas managed by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Forestry England.

The small but striking moth is a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Numbers of the dark bordered beauty moth have declined by over 90% since recording first began at Strensall Common, with as little as 50 to 100 believed to remain at the site. The moth’s presence has been recorded at the common since 1894.

The moth favours sheltered locations at the woodland’s edges where its sole foodplant, creeping willow, can be found growing. Creeping willow habitats are threatened by factors such as wildfires and sheep grazing – leading to a steep decline in the moth’s population since systematic monitoring began in 2007.

Grazing of cattle and sheep on Strensall Common is essential to prevent the growth of trees and shrubs and maintain the site’s internationally important lowland heath habitats. However, grazing has caused the loss of creeping willow plants, meaning fewer good sites for the moth caterpillars to feed, and reduced opportunities for the moths to lay eggs in the summer.

To help save the moth from extinction in England, Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has provided funding and materials through its Conservation Stewardship Fund to create fenced enclosures around areas of low-growing creeping willow across the training area. Additional funding has been provided by Yorventure, an independent not-for-profit initiative supporting community and environmental projects in the City of York and North Yorkshire.

Defence Minister Luke Pollard said:

The first duty of any government is protecting our citizens, and I commend these conservation efforts to protect the wildlife that call our estate home and have no impact on our essential training activity.

It’s brilliant to see the work we’re doing with partners to safeguard the survival of this wonderful moth while conducting training at the same site to keep Britain secure.

The work has been carried out by the Butterfly Conservation charity with the support of ecologists working for DIO, volunteers from the MOD Strensall Conservation Group, and experts from the University of York’s Department of Biology. Volunteers have also planted creeping willows grown from local seeds across Strensall Common to bolster habitats for the moth.

While these efforts have been instrumental in preventing the loss of the dark bordered beauty moth from Strensall Common, its population remains low and under threat. Conservationists are therefore considering trialling a captive breeding scheme to establish new populations of the moth in surrounding regions of York. This follows a recent project which saw the release of 160 dark bordered beauty moth caterpillars into a site in Scotland’s Cairngorm mountains, where the only other surviving populations of the moth in Britain can be found.

In the meantime, it is hoped that the continuing work to protect habitats for the dark bordered beauty moth at Strensall Common will ensure the site remains a stronghold for the species.

DIO Training Safety Officer and Chair of the MOD Strensall Conservation Group Major (Retired) Patrick Ennis said:

The Defence estate is home to some of the most valuable sites for nature and wildlife in the UK. While the primary use of the land is to enable our military to train, we are equally committed to supporting nature recovery by balancing the conservation of species and their habitats with military training requirements.

The determined efforts of the MOD Strensall Conservation Group, Butterfly Conservation and local experts and volunteers have been key to preventing the dark bordered beauty from becoming extinct at its last known site in England, but unfortunately its numbers are still in decline. Continued collaboration will be essential in giving the moth the best chance of recovering its population.

Head of Conservation (England), Butterfly Conservation Dr Dave Wainwright said:

Despite ongoing conservation work by Butterfly Conservation, MOD and our partners, the dark bordered beauty remains at risk of extinction in England. It is crucial that our work to protect it at Strensall continues; at the same time, we need to restore suitable habitat elsewhere and enable the spread of the moth if its chances of survival are to be enhanced.

Dr Peter Mayhew from the University of York’s Department of Biology said:

The dark bordered beauty population at Strensall Common is of enormous cultural importance as it was the population where the moth was first discovered in the UK, and has been most frequently visited by entomologists interested in finding the moth.

The moth has only survived thanks to the protection of the heathland provided by the military training area. Seeing the moth fly on a sunny morning is a never-to-be-forgotten experience which future generations deserve to enjoy.

The work being undertaken to protect the moth’s habitats is in line with the Government’s commitment to protect and restore nature and deliver the Environment Act targets.