Butterfly Flights Cancelled

The Butterfly Conservation organisation has produced its 'State of the UK's Butterflies 2022' report. This report on the UK's 58 'native' species, is based on nearly 23m butterfly records (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/03/uk-butterflies-vanish-from-nearly-half-of-the-places-they-once-flew-study). Butterflies are relatively large, often brightly and day-flying insects. The changes, since 1976, are dire. UK butterflies have vanished from nearly 50% of the locations, where they used to fly. A decline of circa 42% has been noted in cities, fields and woodland. Things are worse for species, that require specific habitats, such as wetlands of chalk grassland. There, there has been a 68% reduction, since 1976. If this is what is happening to prominant, easily recorded insect species, losses in other invertebrates must be substantially worse. All the talk of boosting the UK's biodiversity impoverishment by 2030, seems like 'pie in the sky'. There soon could be few populations to fuel a recovery.