[Animals] Rewilding leads to bumper year for rare Kent moth

[-COsmiNNe]

Black-veined moths are the same size as a butterfly

 

At a glance

 

Surveys counted a peak of 255 black-veined moths this summer

 

The moth was close to extinction in 1995

 

Farmers were encouraged to restore their fields so the moths could thriveA critically-endangered moth indigenous to the east Kent countryside has had a bumper year after its habitat was restored by farmers.

 

In 1995, the black-veined moth was close to extinction due to the loss of their chalk grassland habitat in the Wye National Nature Reserve.

 

Natural England launched a project encouraging farmers to restore fields back to their natural form.

 

This year, surveys counted a peak of 255 moths, the highest number recorded since the project began.

 

Dan Turson, Natural England's farm adviser, said: "Farmers are leading nature recovery through long-term one-to-one advice and close working to create new wildflower grasslands at scale."He said they were now seeing the results of the farmers' hard work.

 

Black-veined moths look like white butterflies patterned with distinctive black lines across their wings.

 

To survive, they need a mosaic of both tall tufts of grass and short wildflowers within the same field, making them much rarer than other insects that live in chalk grassland.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cndejylzl8eo