More than 600 live butterflies are arriving at the National History Museum in London this month for the Sensational Butterflies exhibition. The show aims to encourage gardeners to plant butterfly-friendly flowers such as lavender, marjoram, buddleia and perennial wallflowers to help turn around the fortunes of dozens of species in decline.
According to experts, five species of butterfly have become extinct in the UK and almost half the remaining 56 species are under threat of extinction.
The country’s butterflies have been in decline for decades, with the trend accelerating in recent years. Today more than 70 per cent of butterfly species are declining, according to Butterfly Conservation. Data collected by the conservation organisation shows dramatic declines in once-common species in the past decade, with numbers of small tortoiseshell falling by 68 per cent and peacock butterflies dropping by 30 per cent.
Sir David Attenborough, president of Butterfly Conservation, said: “Butterfly Conservation scientists have demonstrated that these declines can be reversed. If you change the environment to help butterflies, all sorts of other wildlife benefits too. Nature comes back to life.”