UpbeatThousands of butterflies nobody planted for, on farmland given back to nature
On restored farmland in West Sussex, ecologists counting butterflies got a surprise: thousands of them, in numbers and variety well beyond what anyone predicted for land only recently returned from intensive farming to nature. When fields are left to breathe again — hedgerows back, wildflowers unsprayed, grass uncut — the insects find their own way home, and faster than the experts dared hope. It is quiet, fluttering evidence that restoration works, and works quickly.
The upbeat factorgive the land a rest, and the butterflies write the thank-you note themselves.
SDG 15 · Life on land — Mechanism: institutional program
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