Your Society Needs You Update on the Suffolk Branch Action Plan

Your Society -Needs You!

by Rob Parker

Butterfly Conservation, like many other charities, depends on its volunteer workforce to get on with its good work. This article explains what wlunteers are doing for the conservation

of our butterflies and moths - both in Suffolk,

and at National level. The range of activities may be broader than you realized, and more interesting too. Whatever your interest in Lepidoptera, there is scope for you to help, so read on ...

The National Headquarters in Dorset provides an enormous amount of central assistance and guidance for the 31 Branches that cover the UK. Policy there, is in the hands of our Council, who are also volunteers, and who direct the work of the paid staff. At Branch level, volunteers do almost everything, from butterfly recording to habitat restoration. The major tasks of monitoring and recording moths and butterflies are covered elsewhere (page 18) and many of you are already deeply involved as enthusiasts and recorders, but what follows is about the ancillary roles for volunteers, many of which do not require specialist knowledge.

Events

We attend the Suffolk Show as a means of making contact with the general public. They can pick up free advice about butterfly gardening, tell us about the Camberwell Beauty they saw last year, or invite us to run a moth trap on their land. We sell butterfly books and nectar plants more for the visitors benefit, than to raise funds (though monies collected do offset the cost of our participation). Our other aims are to attract new members and to raise awareness of our activities in the eyes of the public.

Other events at which we participate include butterfly walks at Thornham Walks, and stands at Forest Enterprise's Working for Wildlife Day and Ipswich Museum's Environment Open Day. We have often collaborated with the RSPB, and this year's National Moth Night will feature moth trapping at Minsmere. Several extra events are entering our calendar for the first time this season: butterfly walks at Bradfield Woods for SWT, and at Wolves Wood for RSPB, and a stand at Stonham Barns for the Owl Sanctuary's Countryside Awareness Week. All these activities need someone to set the stand up, to man it for the day, and to dismantle the exhibit afterwards.

At present, we are looking for an individual prepared to mastermind such events, as well as welcoming any individual offers to assist the established team at particular shows. You do not need to know all about butterflies to make a worthwhile contribution in this capacity. Our display material needs to be kept up to date, stored somewhere, and t-O appear magically at the next event!

Outdoor Work Parties

Our Branch does not own any wildlife reserves, so we do not have the enormous task that Norfolk faces with the upkeep of Catfield Fen (but we do not have the Swallowtails either!). As a result, our participation at work-parties is mainly at sites owned by someone else, but hosting a good butterfly population. Member Julian Dowding organizes regular work parties at Kissing Gate Lane meadow, Holywells Park in Ipswich, for example. Our members were well represented in January at Purdis Heath, when the Greenways Project organized the clearance of Silver Birch and scrub that had been encroaching on to the Silverstudded Blue's domain. If you live close to the county boundary, you might be interested in assisting across the border in Cambs, on the Chalkhill Blue site at Devil's Dyke, or in clearing scrub for the Grizzled Skipper on the Narborough Railway Reserve in Norfolk.

Education

To date, we have not pursued opportunmes to participate in education, except in the very

broadest sense of educating the public at events. Yet teachers want to show primary school children the life cycle of a butterfly, and youngsters are keen to learn more about bugs and beasties whenever they can. Perhaps the best way ahead is to increase our co-operation with SWT, and ensure that they are able to deliver the message on butterfly conservation at their excellent educational facilities at Foxburrow Farm and Lackford Lakes. No one on the Committee is able to help at present, so we would be delighted if anyone with primary school teaching experience were to step forward to help us to develop our efforts in this direction.

Publicity

We have managed for years without a nominated Publicity Officer, bur anyone handy with a pen and ready to put the conservation message our can bring our efforts to a wider public through regular contact with the local media. We already have some excellent publicity material; it is only a matter of spreading the word.

Administrative Support

Your Committee work hard on your behalf (well on behalf of the Lepidoptera, really!), but from time to time, we could use extra help with mailing, photocopying, or clerical assistance with any of the above jobs. Secretarial skills might be useful, bur you do not need to be a "butterfly expert".

So, How to Volunteer ...

If you are ready to participate in any of these activities, simply phone any member of the Committee at the numbers listed on the back cover of this magazine. If you are interested in joining the Holywells Park work parties, Julian Dowding is on: 01473 414092.

Rob Parker (01284 705476 if you can catch me!)

Burnished Brass

by Mervyn Crawford

Landowner Involvement

Are you in any sense a landowner? We are always looking for promising habitat at which to conduct butterfly surveys, run moth traps. We have held many successful field trips on land owned by BC members, and would welcome opportunities for the 2004 season. You may be looking for advice in setting up a conservation area or butterfly garden, and we can offer this along with a species list. If we find scarce insects on your land it will improve your chances for agro-environmental grants too!

Grizzled Skipper

by Douglas Hammersley