THE NATIONALMOTH CONSERVATIONPROJECT Moths have always been part of the remit of Butterfly Conservation but it is fair to say that little has been achieved during the first 25 years. The National Moth Conservation Project is project was developed by myself with the fonner Nature Conservancy Council (NCC). Since 1987 the Joint Nature Conservancy Committee (JNCC) has funded the work and now Butterfly Conservation has entered the frame, my position as National Moth Conservation Officer is providing an excellent opportunity to put moths finnly on the conservation map.
Wonnwood Cucullia absinthii 0
Before.1980
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1980 Onwarlh
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lat"V;IItc00rd Several &dullrecords
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We have some 2,500 species of moth in Britain compared with 200,000 worldwide and it is our nature reserves, both local and national, which offer the best means of conservation study. With so many species and limited conservation funds it has been necessary to focus our attention closely on what we have identified as the 250 rarest species oflarger moths. National distribution maps have been developed and will soon be published in the fonn of an atlas. Our infonnation is supplied by a national network of dedicated county moth recorders and is entered onto our computer database. Infonnation is also provided by the larger organisations such as the JNCC, the Biolo!,11calRecords Centre, Monks Wood and the Rothamsted Insect survey. At the moment, details are entered manually. The aim over the next few years is to transfer this activity to county level and to exchange data on disk which should enable more efficient manipulation of data for all.
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Roger Kendrick is your Moth Conservation Officer, and if you want to get involved, contact him. He has an overview of all Branch moth-related activities and how they fit in with those of the other local conservation organisations. All moth records collected by Branch members should however, be sent to the County Recorder, Arthur Watchman (see back cover-Ed) . Suffolk Branch can play a vital part in support of the pn:-.jectparticularly as.the county is home to the following 'Nationally Scarce' and 'Red Data' 1 species: Barberry Carpet, Bright Wave, Four-spotted Moth, Forester Moth, Grey Carpet, Wonnwood, Goat Moth, Small Eggar, Marsh Moth as well as various Clcarwings. The endangered Barberry Carpet in particular, could be a good figurehead for moth work within the Branch. It is k11ownfrom only three sites in Britain, one of which is in Suffolk where even here survival is in doubt due to serious habitat damage caused by stubble burning in August, 1991. English Nature will be supporting work this year to assess its current status and development of a close working relationship can only enhance its conservation.
The Marsh Moth, sadly, has not been recorded since 1968 when a singleton was recorded at Redgrave Fen, but who knows, organised field trips using the special location techniques which this species requires may yet reveal a lost colony!
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Red Data Book (RDB) species are found in fewer than IS 10 km squares in Britain. Nationallyscarce species are those which can be found in 16-100 of these grid squares 7
lHl~ SUFF()f,K ARGUS Vo/ 2
Good luck withmoths as well as butterflies in 1994. THE SUFFOLKARGUS Vo!2
Paul Waring 8
