Butterflies and the Law

This section of the website is aimed at providing a layman's introduction to the legal protection offered to butterflies in the UK. Of course, I would hope that visitors to this website would also respect these wonderful creatures beyond the protection offered to them by law. Butterfly Conservation has a number of codes of conduct relating to butterflies, moths and their habitats, and these will be posted once obtained. For more information on wildlife (in general) and the law, there is an excellent overview on the buglife website. Butterflies are protected by a number of acts. The most significant of these is the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

This act is divided into a number of "schedules" and Schedule 5 lists animals (other than birds) that qualify for protection. Schedule 5 is revised every five years. The butterflies in Schedule 5, and their level of protection, is shown below. As far as butterflies are concerned, this act applies to wild, rather than captive-bred, individuals.

In this table, the phrase "Full protection" implies all of the following parts of the act, whereas "Sale only" implies Section 9 Parts 5(a) and 5(b).

So, in a nutshell, it is illegal to trade in any of these species without a license, and don't even think about dabbling with Heath Fritillary, High Brown Fritillary, Large Blue, Large Copper, Marsh Fritillary or Swallowtail. However, there are certain exemptions. Although not definitive statements, the exemptions are relevant when:

• Any damage or disturbance is accidental.
• Preventing serious damage to crops or livestock.
• Acting in the interests of animal health, public health or public safety.
• Damaging or obstructing a place of shelter when it is inside a house.
• Carrying out scientific investigations, rescue operations or wildlife photography involving protected animals under licence from the appropriate authority.
• Possessing protected species (e.g. in insect collections) which were taken from the wild without contravening the law (e.g. under licence or before legal protection was enacted).

The Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985

The Wildlife and Countryside Act doesn't apply in Northern Ireland. However, protection is afforded by the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. With regard to the protection of species, this is very similar to the Wildlife and Countryside Act. The butterflies protected by this act are shown below:

International Protection

There are 2 international statutes that apply to species in the UK. These are:

• Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (Habitats Directive) - CNH
• Council of Europe Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) - CEC

These statutes apply to the following species:

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