Conservation Work

The branch drafts species action plans for those moths and butterflies of conservation concern that can be found in Suffolk.  These plans are used to direct moth and butterfly conservation work in the county.

There are no Butterfly Conservation reserves in Suffolk but the branch views the whole of the county as its reserve and acts to promote conservation of butterflies wherever it may be needed.  Recent work parties have helped improve the habitat at various sites for the Silver-studded Blue butterfly, one of Suffolk's more localised butterflies.  Advice is provided on maintaining suitable habitats for butterflies and moths to landowners and agencies within the county.

Silver-studded Blue Translocation to Blaxhall Common - 2012 Update

In 2007, the Suffolk Branch undertook an exciting project to benefit one of Suffolk’s rarest butterflies, the Silver-studded blue.

The purpose of the project was to create a new colony of Silver-studded Blues on Blaxhall Common by relocating adult butterflies from sites elsewhere on the Sandlings heaths.  Donor sites at Lower Hollesley Common and Minsmere’s Sawmills colony each provided 30 adult butterflies, and these were translocated to Blaxhall Common in June & July of 2007.  The butterflies laid eggs and have now survived their first five winters.

A transect walk was undertaken by volunteers, and in the summer of 2008, a dozen or so Silver-studded Blues were to be seen enjoying their new habitat.  Both sexes remained on the wing for a month or so.  The 2009 monitoring proved that wild pairings had occurred and the new colony was present in slightly increased numbers.  Numbers increased in 2010, and in 2011 the transect walk achieved a record index of 155, finding up to 45 adults on the wing over a 9 week period from 2 Jun to 28 July.

The 2012 season has been another success at Blaxhall - in the face of a generally awful year of disruptive weather.  This marks five seasons of progressively rising numbers, flying for a longer flight period each year, which is most encouraging.  The area of the common over which they are flying has also expanded slightly.

Silver-studded Blues are only found on heathland and have very specialised needs.  They prefer low-growing bell heather and their life-cycle depends on the presence of a species of black ant that looks after the butterfly during the early stages of its life.  Blaxhall Common does have healthy populations of the ants, Lasius psammophilus, and excellent heathland habitat which (to the human eye) appears ideal.  The passage of time suggests that the butterflies are content with their new home.

The scheme is a joint project between the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation and Suffolk Wildlife Trust, who manage the site at Blaxhall.  It was made possible thanks to a grant from the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Connect fund, using money raised by Suffolk Secrets, a local tourism business.  A keen team of local volunteers are playing a continuing part in the maintenance of the heath and monitoring the new colony.  The Silver-studded Blue is one of the UK’s rarest butterflies.  It has suffered a significant long-term decline in numbers, although in recent years, this has been stabilised, largely due to improvements in heathland management such as that carried out by members of the Sandlings Group.  Suffolk has a small but nationally important population of Silver-studded Blue, a butterfly that features in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and may only be legally introduced with proper authorisation and appropriate ecological safeguards.

Ecological Survey of Selected Silver-studded Blue Sites

Not all of our Silver-studded Blue sites are flourishing, and concerns about dwindling populations and deteriorating habitat at several of the Sandlings Heaths prompted a detailed ecological survey in 2009. Similar work was done in 1994 & 2003, and an ecological consultant was commissioned to undertake a fresh study embracing four sites considered to be at risk (Purdis Heath, Martlesham Heath, Blackheath and Westleton Common, all of which had different problems). The opportunity to check the health of one of the donor sites for the Blaxhall translocation (Lower Hollesley) was taken, and the suitability of Snape Warren for a future re-establishment was also investigated.

The full 34 page report is available in PDF format. There are two versions, one a low-resolution document the other a higher resolution document. You will need an appropriate PDF viewer or plugin to be able to read the documents.

Low resolution Silver-studded Blue 2009 Report (875KB)

High resolution Silver-studded Blue 2009 Report (2250KB)

Ipswich Heaths Project

I am delighted that a landscape-level project, aimed at restoring lowland heathland habitat of 300 hectares on 14 sites in Ipswich, has been awarded a Wren Biodiversity Action Fund grant of over £100,000.  The project was born from a desire to conserve and enhance the remaining patches of heathland in and around Ipswich, part of what was once a continuous band of mainly coastal lowland heathland called the Sandlings, which stretched between Felixstowe and Lowestoft.

In 2009 the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation commissioned a condition study of several significant county heathlands that held Silver-studded Blue colonies.  From that the Branch instigated a series of practical emergency measures to rescue an ailing colony from probable extinction at one of the sites, Purdis Heath, where in less than 20 years the count had dropped from 2,000 to less than 10.  The biggest factor contributing to their decline was insufficient management, leading to scrub succession and loss of optimum breeding habitat for the Silver-studded Blue and other heathland species of conservation concern.  Volunteers have since stepped in to help manage the site and reverse the decline, undertaking operations such as tree removal, creation of bare ground habitat and heather cutting.  This year the count has risen, too early to declare the population as recovering, but an encouraging sign nonetheless.

The Ipswich Heaths Project, delivered by Sharon Hearle (Project Officer), will now enable the scale of restoration to be dramatically accelerated, extending the work to include all 14 sites.  Funding will also pay for contractors to carry out some of the larger scale works needed.  However, community groups and volunteers will continue to be integral in making the project a success, supporting the project officer with practical conservation work and site monitoring.