THE Forestry Commission estate in the Wyre Forest is all of a flutter thanks to a pioneering four-year project to help protect the region’s butterfly stronghold and improve Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

The Back to Orange Project is being funded by a £74,000 grant from SITA Trust to help conserve the distinctive fritillary butterflies for which the Wyre Forest is famous.

All fritillaries are predominantly orange, with a network of darker markings forming the chequered pattern from which the name ‘fritillary’ is derived. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is also funding work by the Forestry Commission in the West Midlands to conserve woodland-related SSSIs where these butterflies live.

Much of the Wyre Forest area is designated as a SSSI and is an important national and regional stronghold for the pearl-bordered fritillary, small pearl bordered fritillary and the silver-washed fritillary. Fritillary butterflies are not common in Britain and some species are extremely rare.

SITA Trust funding is now being used for essential habitat restoration work in special areas of Wyre to maintain the strongholds of these species, including Hurst Coppice, Dowles Brook and the Longdon area, near Bewdley.