Making Butterflies Count

The last three years have seen butterflies in the UK experience the most dramatic decline in numbers since records began, with almost half of them now under threat. To help bring an end to this, Marks & Spencer and Butterfly Conservation are teaming up to launch Making Butterflies Count.

The Making Butterflies Count initiative targets both M&S customers and suppliers to raise awareness about the importance of butterflies and moths and encourage them to take action to reverse their devastating declines. This valuable partnership is part of the retailer's eco-plan, Plan A commitment to be the world's most sustainable retailer by 2015.

Sir David Attenborough, President of Butterfly Conservation, said: "Butterflies are wonderful, extraordinary creatures. Numbers have been falling, but Butterfly Conservation scientists have demonstrated that these declines can be reversed. They have also found that when you change the environment to help butterflies thrive, all sorts of other wildlife benefits too. Nature comes back to life. I'm delighted Marks & Spencer is working with Butterfly Conservation and I wish them every success implementing their ambitious Plan A commitments."

Butterflies and moths are very sensitive to environmental change, which makes them a very good indicator of the health of the countryside. They are essential for the pollination of plants and caterpillars provide food for many birds and other wildlife. If the UK lost all of its butterflies and moths, farmers would see a big drop in numbers of other wildlife and impacts on crop yields.

Richard Gillies, M&S Director of Plan A, commented: "We want to lead the way in making a positive contribution to the environment and society across everything we do and everything we sell. Our partnership with Butterfly Conservation is a great opportunity for us to raise awareness with both our farmers and our customers about the importance of butterflies. We hope that our campaign will be a major way of helping to reverse the long-term decline of butterflies and moths, as well as enhancing the habitats for wildlife and improving the environment for us all."

As part of the Butterfly Conservation partnership, M&S wants to engage all of it's farmers in the UK to help protect the butterfly. Over the next 12 months Butterfly Conservation will visit key M&S farmers, and all M&S farmers will be given advice on how to encourage and maintain more butterflies on their farms.

The retailer is launching a range of butterfly related products including plants which attract butterflies, butterfly adorned products such as t-shirts and jewellery, to help raise awareness about the importance of butterflies, whilst M&S will also be making a donation from the sale of the products to Butterfly Conservation.

Richard Gillies continued: "We want to make it as easy as possible for all our customers and farmers to get involved - with the launch of the Big Butterfly Count, our fantastic range of products, and also the support our farmers will be getting from Butterfly Conservation, there should be something for everyone."

Link: Butterfly Conservation Campaign
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