The nation's biggest butterfly count now underway

Thousands of people are expected to participate in counting the butterflies from July 19 to August 10.

14:29 21 July 2014

On July 19th the nation’s biggest butterfly count officially started. Expected to run until August 10th, the move is expected to be participated in by thousands of people from across the country.

The Big Butterfly Count will help in assessing the overall health of the environment, and is backed by esteemed naturalist Sir David Attenborough who called on the Great British public to spend 15 minutes counting butterflies in their local area. He said that the public participation will be an “invaluable” contribution to science.

Richard Fox, Surveys Manager for the charity told the Guardian he thought the signs were “very good” for butterflies this year.

“Many species in Britain did well last year and generally in Britain we’ve had good weather this year so we’ve seen successful and big emergences [of butterflies],” he added.

Brits are encouraged to count butterflies everywhere. This could be while they’re in parks, at school, or in the garden.

To carry out your count, spend 15 minutes during bright and preferably sunny weather and set yourself in a fixed position. Then, count the maximum number of species that you see at any single time.

For more information, visit the official site here.