PICTURES: Young Ardersier conservationists help to save UK’s smallest butterfly
Ardersier youngsters are helping to create a living apartment complex for Britain's smallest butterfly.
Pupils at Ardersier Primary School are supporting conservation efforts to save a threatened butterfly species.
The project, which will see the youg conservationists grow Kidney vetch – the only plant that Small Blue caterpillars eat – is being managed by charity Butterfly Conservation as part of a campaign to rescue the beleaguered butterfly from the brink of extinction in Scotland.
The seedlings will be planted into new habitat banks to connect isolated populations of small blue at Ardersier and Fort George.
This project is one of nine being coordinated by Species on the Edge, a new conservation programme funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund working to reverse the decline of rare and vulnerable species across the Scotland’s coasts and islands.
Project officer Tracy Munro said: "For me, you have to care – if you let it go from one area, the next thing you know an iconic species like this is gone.
“One of the biggest pleasures of my job is introducing people to this tiny little species then seeing the delight they take in taking care of it. It's getting people involved looking after the environment around them. We need to bring the public with us."
The project comes as part of Small Blue Week, which runs between May 25 and June 1.
Afte working with other community groups in the Highlands, Ms Munro is focusing her efforts on a specific gap in the small blue’s distribution between Fort George and Ardersier.
At a Scottish Water-owned site in that space, with the help of Ardersier primary pupils, she will lead the creation of the 'apartment complex' of new habitat banks.
Habitat banks like these are created by scraping away the top soil and all the fast-growing plants in it, then building crescent-shaped mounds out of rubble and soil which won't get blown away. The banks, each one eight to 12 metres long, are finished with sand into which Kidney Vetch is planted along with a few other native coastal plants that can support butterflies, moths and other invertebrates.
Scottish Water is donating the use of its land and Haventus – owner of Ardersier Port – is donating the sand, with Ardersier Community Hub is donating plant seeds.
Ms Munro said she is aiming to hire a local contractor in September to dig out the banks and do the initial shaping, but for the final stretch of fine shaping and planting she will need all the help she can get from the local community.
Earlier this year, the charity kickstarted a project in partnership with Nairn Dunbar Golf Club and with funding from Highland Council to manage the sand dunes habitat in order to protect endangered butterfly species – among which is the small blue.
As well as putting on a series of public events during the week, the charity has appealed for people across Scotland to help save the iconic species.
"If we want to save the small blue for Scotland then we absolutely can't do it without help from people who live here, and we're really hoping this project will inspire more people to get involved,” Ms Munro continued.
“We can give you advice and training to do really valuable work, and the more people get involved the bigger a difference we can make.”
With a wingspan up to 30mm, the small blue is the UK's smallest resident butterfly. The caterpillars only eat the flower head of Kidney Vetch, a small, low-growing plant that is easily outcompeted by bigger species such as gorse. Adults are on the wing in May and June, but can be extremely hard to spot.
Since the 1970s, the Small Blue's distribution across the UK has plummeted by more than 40 per cent, though it is still relatively common in the south of England. In Scotland the species has suffered decline in part due to habitat loss to human development and wider land use change. Effects of climate change such as heat, drought and increased flooding are also punishing the Kidney Vetch that Small Blues depend on.
Ms Munro added: "I didn't use to be a huge fan of the Small Blue, but on one of the first days I worked on this project one was blown onto my finger and it was so incredibly tiny, just the width of my fingertip, and it was so beautiful – a really dusky, rich colour, and it just grew on me. The more time I spent with them the more I fell in love with them, and I know that other people will as well!"
She is also appealing for volunteers to help support the primary school in growing Kidney Vetch plants and to help with surveying butterflies across the area to assess what impact the work is having.
Anyone wishing to get involved, can contact her at tmunro@butterfly-conservation.org or learn more about the small blue on the Butterfly Conservation website.