Our workshops feature opportunities for children to improve their own gardens and school grounds to provide havens for butterflies and moths. They come face to face with caterpillars and delight in handling their first Hawk-moth.
Becky Miners
In our Radio 4 appeal, Butterfly Conservation’s Vice-president Alan Titchmarsh talked about a childhood encounter with a hairy caterpillar, one of many which helped to spark a love of nature that has lasted a lifetime and brought him endless pleasure. Sadly, today’s children spend far less time playing outside, getting their hands dirty and experiencing nature. There are growing concerns that this lack of wild time could be affecting our children’s health and wellbeing. This is not just a problem for our children, it’s also a problem for our caterpillars and other wildlife.
The generous support of Radio 4 listeners helped raise £2,869.00, which has enabled our education team here at Butterfly Conservation, reach even more children with our ‘Munching Caterpillars’ education programme. We have recently begun a new project in Scotland’s Central Belt with plans to expand our work to other regions.
Butterflies and moths are among our most threatened groups of wildlife, with two thirds of species declining in the last forty years. We need young people to enjoy them, to be fascinated by them and ultimately to care about them and the habitats that support them. We are extremely grateful to Radio 4 listeners for their support – thank you.
You can find out more about the charity