This is the second year in a row that we have benefitted from funding from Lakeland. For their #WILDFundraiser, Lakeland's Llanelli store chose to donate the proceeds from their carrier bags sales to our conservation work in their local patch. Their generous £500 donation is going towards our work to restore Marsh fritillary habitat in Carmarthenshire. 

Rhos Cefn Bryn is a rhos pasture site near Llannon. It is home to a Carmarthenshire specialty, Marsh fritillary. These delicate little butterflies are threatened across much of the UK and Europe and they have seen severe declines in the last century. Rhos Pasture, Marsh fritillary’s preferred habitat, was once abundant in Carmarthenshire and loss of this habitat is having severe effects on this beautiful butterfly.

Some of the threats to Rhos pasture are inappropriate grazing and scrub encroachment. Alongside working with a local farmer to get the right amount of grazing pressure for Marsh fritillaries, we also spend time clearing back bramble and willow scrub. These dominant fast growing species can overshadow and push out the purple moor grass and devil’s bit scabious, 2 key species the fritillaries need to complete their life cycle. We also carry out an annual count of the larvae. Marsh Fritillary caterpillars weave conspicuous webs during late summer, and by looking for and recording these webs we can monitor the population within the site.  The best days to survey for them are bright and sunny when you can observe the larvae out basking and enjoying the last of the summer’s sun.

We are very grateful to Lakeland for their continued support of our efforts to boost butterfly numbers in South Wales.