Engineers protect Cornish endangered butterfly site

A crucial habitat for an endangered butterfly has been protected and improved by staff from Cornwall.

As part of our employee volunteering scheme, a team of 12 undertook a day of conservation work near Bodmin to support the marsh fritillary, one of Britain’s most threatened butterfly species.

Engineers and support staff cleared 450 square metres of thick gorse and birch trees at the Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Helman Tor nature reserve, which is one of the county’s few strongholds for the marsh fritillary.

Bodmin-based NGED team leader James Weston said: “Providing practical help to improve the reserve was a real pleasure and our team thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to do hands-on conservation work.”

Mat Bateman, volunteer co-ordinator at Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said: “The NGED team’s efforts made a significant impact on the reserve and the wildlife it supports.

“Their enthusiastic work will help ensure this important habitat remains a haven for Cornwall's wildlife.”

The trust says Cornwall’s wildlife is disappearing at an alarming rate. Nearly 12 per cent of principal importance species are threatened with local extinction, with 60 per cent of butterflies being found in fewer and fewer places.

The team took part in the day as part of a staff volunteering scheme to support community groups and charities which aims to deliver more than 14,000 employee volunteering hours every year until 2030.