County Durham Small pearl bordered fritilary project

The Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary is currently County Durham’s rarest resident butterfly species. The locations of six extant sites within the county are currently known. The long-term future of the species will only be assured through habitat restoration to improve connectivity between existing colonies and by establishing further colonies.The purpose of the project is to halt the population decline of the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly in County Durham through a programme of habitat works, monitoring butterfly populations and reintroductions of captive bread butterflies. An important part of the project involves habitat management on extant and newly identified sites in proximity to existing colonies, thus re-establishing a viable metapopulation for the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.