Comma No92 Autumn 2015

Chairman’s Address
been amazing and this will ensure
a strong local flavour. We have
also been blessed with generous
sponsorships, from both individuals
and organisations. These pledges
of money have enabled us to put
forward the necessary advance
and commit to an agreement with
our publisher without delay. We
shall also be able to cope with
unforeseen expenses. All sale
proceeds will go into Branch
Funds, and no one is being paid
for work contributed. The editorial
board at the outset stated to
potential sponsors that
“All the monies raised
by the sale of the book
will be spent on butterfly
conservation work in the
West Midlands.” If at the
end not all the sponsorship
money is spent on production, the
Branch will identify schemes to
benefit butterflies and moths
including reintroductions.
Consistent approach
We have found that we have much
more material than will fit in the
space agreed with our publisher.
This and the need to adopt a
consistent approach to style and
spelling will result in a considerable
amount of editing, so you may find
your efforts have been revised or
shortened - indeed several of the
things I have written have already
suffered the same fate in order to
achieve balance and allow room
for photos.
Wood White project
Perhaps the other major initiative
We are
on course
to publish
“Butterflies of the
West Midlands”
next spring
(leaving aside the
ongoing management
of our reserves and all
the recording activity)
is the Wood White
programme. This is led by
Jenny Joy and Rhona Goddard,
and aims to improve the habitat in
existing Wood White sites and
connectivity between them,
engage with local communities in
recording and practical
conservation work, and carry out
reintroductions to former sites
assessed as having suitable
habitat. The Branch is supporting
a Heritage Lottery Funding bid to
secure a Project Officer next year.
Based on four landscapes in
Worcestershire, Herefordshire and
Shropshire a number of people
have been carrying out habitat
assessments in woodland where
owners, including the Forestry
Commission and Worcestershire
Wildlife Trust, have expressed
interest. These assessments focus
Wood White (Stephen Lewis)
on the presence of foodplants and
light and shade. From what I have
seen of the habitat in eight of
these sites, conditions are already
good enough in some cases for
reintroduction work to commence
in 2016 subject to the necessary
approval.
Butterflies at risk
We have lost in our region a
number of species and others are
at others at risk, for instance the
Grayling population on the
Malvern Hills. So the issue is –
do we intervene in every
situation, or do we conclude that
some sites may not be saved?
Malvern Hills Conservators are
working with Rhona on another
funding bid to continue their
scrub clearance programme in a
sustained effort to make sure this
does not happen to the Grayling.
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