A rare butterfly is being reintroduced into the Welsh countryside decades after it disappeared, thanks to a team of conservationists.Hundreds of marsh fritillary butterflies, with their unmistakeable cream and orange wings, can now be spotted on Llantrisant Common in Rhondda Cynon Taf.The man behind this resurgence is Rob Parry, the founder of Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru.His team took caterpillars from the wild, reared them and released them back into the area - a controversial approach but one he feels is increasingly necessary.
"Many of our species are on the brink, right on the edge, and we can't afford to monitor them disappearing," he told BBC Wales Live.
The project has seen butterflies mating and laying eggs on the common.Vaughn Matthews, who has helped rear and release caterpillars, said it was "an incredible experience" after "20-odd years of there being no marsh fritillaries on there".But reintroduction is not without its critics.Last year, the UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said this was not a priority, external and it aimed to reach biodiversity targets through methods such as habitat restoration.
"A lot of it has been protecting what we’ve already got, monitoring and doing science, research and so on," he added.This changed when he resubmitted plans in 2019.Liz Halliwell from NRW said she understood the role reintroduction could play, but it had to be considered against other options.
"Habitat restoration would be needed in advance to make sure you're not releasing animals that are then lost as well," she added.The Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru always intended that the caterpillars' environment would be at the heart of their plans.
The butterflies thrive on Rhôs Pasture, a distinctive marshy grassland, that is home to a number of different wetland species.Food production and a movement from cattle grazing to sheep in Wales has led to a lot of this land being drained.Rob and his team have been working with landowners and communities to help bring the landscape back to life and give their butterflies the best chance of survival.In response to wider reservations around reintroduction, he said: I would love to see a Wales where we didn't have to intervene, but that ship sailed decades ago.
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