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The Butterfly Handbook

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The second half of the last century saw dramatic changes in the countryside of Britain. Our native wildlife continues to be threatened as habitats are damaged or destroyed. Butterflies have probably never been as endangered as they are today following decades of loss of key semi-natural habitats such as flower-rich grasslands. Road verges, an increasingly important habitat for butterflies and other insects can help conserve butterflies and other wildlife as they are an opportunity to provide suitable breeding habitats for many species, and provide crucial links between the patches of habitat that remain.

Butterflies are highly sensitive indicators of the environment and we know that conservation measures for this group will help many other less well-known components of our biodiversity. Road verges already provide valuable habitats for a wide range of species but this report shows how they can be made even better and contribute an ever more important role in the future. This report contains General advice on mitigating the impacts of roads on butterfly populations, and includes a case study on mitigation for the Marsh Fritillary butterfly along the A30 Bodmin to Indian Queens road improvement scheme.

The full report is available for download in PDF format by using the link below.