09 Apr 2025
Last year was nothing short of disastrous for butterflies across Hertfordshire and north London, a new authoritative report reveals, with a grim picture for St Albans included.
The 2024 annual report by Butterfly Conservation (Hertfordshire and Middlesex) shows that almost every species declined from 2023.
Branch recorder Andrew Wood said: “2024 was one of the worst butterfly seasons – a perfect storm of the climate crisis, pesticide and herbicide overuse and an exceptionally dull and damp summer.
“In late 2024 the national conservation charity Butterfly Conservation declared a Butterfly Emergency.”
He continued: “We had a big plunge in the numbers seen and places recorded for the iconic and traditionally common small tortoiseshell (pictured right). Numbers fell by 50 per cent compared to 2023, and the number of sites where it was seen fell by a third.”
In St Albans the situation was even worse, with the species virtually disappearing from the district, having been one of our most common until just a few years ago.
Herts and Middlesex Butterfly Conservation chair Malcolm Hull, who lives in St Albans, said: “Over the last decade, the average number of small tortoiseshells hibernating over winter in my shed has been 20. Last winter it was down to four and this year none at all. Increased climate variability is the most likely cause.”
Since 2020, St Albans district council has left some road verges unmown and seeded some parks and green spaces with wildflower seeds.
Volunteers from Butterfly Conservation, Wilderhood Watch and the Ver Valley Society have joined forces to monitor record how the changes affected the number of butterflies seen on these wilder plots. In 2024 the number of butterflies on the established wilder plots was 75 per cent up compared to previous years.
“This is a huge contrast to the substantial decline in butterflies generally and shows how well the wilder plots are doing to provide a haven for pollinators.”
The charity’s Hertfordshire and Middlesex branch produces a comprehensive report every year, compiling thousands of observations from hundreds of recorders across the branch area.
It is distributed free to members, but anyone who wants to learn more about butterflies and moths in the area should visit the branch website at
butterfly-conservation.org/in-your-area/hertfordshire-and-middlesex-branch
