Natural England

As blackthorn hedges begin to turn into drifts of beautiful white flowers across the South West, Natural England welcomes the first signs of Spring and the caterpillar of the rare brown hairstreak butterfly, which is preparing for a feast.

Marjory Taylor, Natural England’s ecologist said; "We work with farmers and other land managers providing advice and payments under the Environmental Stewardship Scheme. Encouraging hedgerow trimming on a rotational basis through these schemes benefits this rare butterfly, other wildlife and the landscape as a whole. This type of sensitive management makes for stunning spring time displays and a mass of blackthorn flowers. The more flowers we see the more sloes, the fruit of the blackthorn, are available for birds such as blackbirds, thrushes and fieldfares."

The rare brown hairstreak butterfly relies solely upon the blackthorn to support its life cycle, from egg to wing. At this time of year the butterfly’s eggs are tucked in the forks of the branches waiting for the blossom to fall. Shortly after the blossom the leaves unfurl and the pale green larvae wiggle out to feed.

From late July the butterflies emerge and spend much of their time in and among treetops, hedges and the edge of woodlands. They are usually seen with their wings closed showing golden brown underwings with two thin white lines on each wing and small orange tails.

Marjory Taylor continued

"We are lucky to have almost 40% of one of England's rarest butterflies living in the South West. The brown hairstreak was once widespread across England but the population has declined over the years as we have lost much of the woodland and hedgerows that it relies upon. The butterfly relies heavily on blackthorn for its life cycle. Annual hedge trimming cuts off both the eggs and the egg laying sites so the most important thing we can do to stop the decline in their numbers is to encourage more farmers to trim only some of their hedges each year. The Environmental Stewardship Scheme can pay farmers to do this."

Notes for editors

1. For further information, images of the brown hairstreak butterfly and blackthorn blossom and to arrange an interview with Marjory Taylor, please contact Dot Isgrove at the Natural England South West Office on 07880 784757
2. Environmental Stewardship is funded by Defra and managed by Natural England providing funding to farmers to deliver effective environmental management of their land. There are now over 700,000 hectares, or 38.5% of agricultural land under Environmental Stewardship agreements across the south west region, including over 74,000 kilometres of hedgerows.
3. Environmental Stewardship is composed of three tiers:-
   - Entry Level Stewardship (ELS), a whole farm scheme which aims to encourage farmers and land managers across England to deliver simple but effective environmental management such as rotational hedgerow trimming;
   - Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS), which is open to farmers who manage all or part of their land organically;
   - Higher Level Stewardship (HLS), which, when combined with ELS or OELS options, aims to deliver significant environmental benefits in high priority areas.
4. The primary objectives of the scheme are to:
   - Conserve wildlife (biodiversity).
   - Maintain and enhance landscape quality and character.
   - Protect the historic environment and natural resources.
   - Promote public access and understanding of the countryside.
   - Natural resource protection.
5. Natural England works for people, places and nature to conserve and enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas. We conserve and enhance the natural environment for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people, and the economic prosperity it brings. For more information see www.naturalengland.org.uk