For as long as the large blue’s home remains so small, their future remains fragile.

Would you like to see vibrant grasslands teeming with life and the delicate flutter of butterflies on the sunlit wing? Restored habitats shifting and changing with the rhythm of the seasons? Thriving populations of once rare birds, insects and mysterious mammals? This is the future we want for our wildlife, and we need your help.

Since 1945, 97% of British wildflower meadows have been lost.

The 2023 State of Nature report shows that one in six species are now at risk of extinction in the UK, with overall wildlife declines of 19% since 1970. Across the country, butterfly numbers have declined by a shocking 80% since the 1970s, a sure sign of species loss and a biodiversity crisis.

Closer to home, Gloucestershire’s large blue butterflies were once lost, vanished altogether from their declining grassland habitat.

Declared extinct in 1979, a pioneering reintroduction project has brought them back to Daneway Banks nature reserve in the Golden Valley. The reserve is a vital sanctuary for this vulnerable enigmatic species who have grown to make this patch of unimproved limestone grassland their home. The large blue’s story has turned from extinction to remarkable reintroduction success through innovation, hard work and careful habitat management. Daneway Banks and its surroundings now boasts the largest population of large blues in the world, and the time has come for them to spread their wings.

You can help us create a resilient future for these threatened butterflies across the Stroud Valleys, starting with Swift’s Hill and Snows Farm nature reserves.

We want to have the biggest impact possible when it comes to supporting our large blues on the next step of their journey, and these reserves provide the perfect starting point for expanding butterfly habitat and populations. If you can send a gift today, you could be helping us create woodland rides in the Stroud Valleys that ensure habitat connectivity, providing corridors for large blues to travel freely.

By helping create quality butterfly habitat at these reserves, you can help the large blue feel at home.

You could help us work with local landowners to create bigger and better grassland habitats, or transform the wider Slad Valley into a haven for large blues by enabling us to encourage other local landowners to manage their land with wildlife in mind. The whole valley could see an upsurge in rare and vulnerable species, like fly orchids, skylarks and elusive adders.

The more sites we connect, the larger the home we create, the brighter the future for large blues in Gloucestershire.

A beautiful large blue on the wing, dancing over restored and thriving grasslands – this is the future we want for Gloucestershire’s wildlife. We must act now to create bigger, better and more connected habitats that will allow this wonderful species to spread its wings and find a more resilient future. If you can, please send a gift to make this future happen, today.