In 2016 staff and volunteers from Butterfly Conservation and Worcestershire Wildlife Trust embarked on the Making a Stand for the Wood White project. Prior to the reintroduction, Monkwood nature reserve was the last known site in the county to support a thriving population. The butterflies had last been recorded there in 2008.
Targeted management of the habitat at Monkwood was implemented over a number of years to ensure it was suitable for reintroduction. Following research into donor populations and the seeking of permissions to collect a sustainable number of individual butterflies, reintroduction became a reality.
With funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and after extensive monitoring of donor populations, experts collected adult butterflies from two Forestry England sites. Over 2016 and 2017 30 wood white butterflies were released into Monkwood nature reserve, a few miles from Worcester.
In 2018 133 wood whites were recorded during one visit in mid May. 10 years on and the numbers of butterflies are going strong.
Rhona Goddard, now Senior Landscape Recovery Officer for Worcestershire Wildlife Trust but previously the project officer for the reintroduction programme for Butterfly Conservation, explained “At a time when 41% of insect species are at risk of extinction, this is a really welcome good news story.
“2025 saw record counts of these delicate butterflies at Monkwood nature reserve. More than 700 were seen during that year’s surveys, just a small representative of the total in the woodland. They’ve also spread out beyond Monkwood’s boundaries and one has even been recorded in Worcester city on its way to finding new territories and habitats.
“Decisions to re-introduce species aren’t taken lightly – there was five years of planning before we knew that the habitat was right and that the populations we were taking individuals from could cope with that loss. The fact that they settled at Monkwood so quickly and, despite several extreme weather events, they’re doing well is great to see.”
