5 days ago
Wild spaces could be created in Glasgow to support butterflies
The two-year project would see the creation of 13 wild spaces in local schools, and 15 publicly accessible wild ppaces in parks in partnership with Glasgow City Council.
There would also be engagement events, volunteering opportunities and training sessions.
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Sammy Fraser, wild spaces officer at Butterfly Conservation, told the Glasgow Times the spaces are to benefit both wildlife and people and can vary largely in size.
She said: 'For us as a team, it's not a traditional conservation programme, it's very much focused on brining benefits and value to local communities.
'When we say a wild space, we mean providing either feeding, breeding or shelter habitats for butterflies and moths, but there's no prescription on what wild spaces look like.
'It can be everything from planters, a flat with a balcony garden for example or it could be really large meadow site.'
Butterfly Conservation aims to create 'a world where butterflies and moths thrive and can be enjoyed by everyone, forever'.
The first wild spaces project took place in across Perth and Stirling in 2023, with Sammy saying it has shaped what they would like to bring to Glasgow.
She said: 'The feedback from communities said they really enjoyed the development of wild spaces in the community, but they would like to see it being brought into schools and that's one of the things we fed into the Glasgow project.'
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As well as applying for National Lottery funding, Butterfly Conservation has launched a Crowdfunder to help fund the project.
So far, more than £3400 has been raised towards their £20,000 target.
Last year, Butterfly Conservation declared a national Butterly Emergency after the summer's Big Butterfly Count showing a 'hugely concerning decline in numbers' across the UK.
In total, just over 935,000 butterflies and day-flying moths were recorded across the UK from July 12 to August 4, down almost 600,000, equivalent to more than a third of 2023's total.
Sammy added: 'Most of the UK is urban in terms of habitat availability and the Butterfly Emergency was declared last year based on the impact of things like climate change, habitat loss, chemical use and pollution.
'For us, we're trying to make more habitat available in urban environments and connect them with what's happening in the countryside because there's a really obvious gap there we need to try and fill with more wild space creation.'
Glasgow City Council has been contacted for comment.
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