Flies
43 species of fly have become extinct in England in the last 200 years, 10 of which are shown below
Species: Belida angelicae
Extinct: 1936
Species: Clitellaria ephippium
Extinct: 1850
© John Reinecke
© Hectonichus
LATEST NEWS
New Forest Cicada
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Marsh Clubmoss in Dorset
Over the last two decades our monitoring has revealed a steady decline in Marsh Clubmoss on the Dorset Heaths, and while some vast sites still remain, the overall range has dramatically contracted.
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Initial work had focussed on monitoring declines and working to improve management on the sites, but this, on its own, has not been enough to reverse the decline.
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In 2023, with initial funding from the Natural England Species Recovery Programme, we have started working on a 'proof of concept' of moving plants into new and extant sites, to see whether translocation is a viable option, and whether particulate techniques are better than others. We all then be mounting these sites over the next ten years to gauge the success or failure of this work.
Field Cow-wheat in Wiltshire
Since 2019 we have been working to prevent the extinction of Field Cow-wheat in Wiltshire, following on from the sale of its only privately owned site to new owners.
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To date we have created 3 new sites for the species, which are all in their early days of establishment, with the eventual aim that they become self-sustaining by the year 2030.
Newsletter
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Newsletter
Our latest newsletter can be read here
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If you would like to subscribe to our mailing list please click below
Mowing Smart for Tansy Beetles: A Simple Step with Big Impact
The dazzling green shimmer of the Endangered Tansy beetle Chrysolina graminis is confined to the banks of Yorkshire’s River Ouse and a handful of wetland sites in East Anglia. In Yorkshire, these jewel-like beetles depend almost entirely on fragrant plant Tansy Tanacetum vulgare for both food and breeding, making the management of this plant absolutely vital to their survival.
Unfortunately, several sites in York have seen a serious decline in the amount of Tansy present, and with it, a collapse in beetle numbers. In contrast, South Ings—one of the most successful sites—recorded an astonishing 25,000 beetles in 2023. What sets these thriving sites apart? Species Recovery Trust made a comparison between these sites and one key factor is the strategic mowing during autumn, winter, or early spring.
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This well-timed management encourages fresh, vigorous growth of Tansy plants just in time for beetle emergence. Without it, Tansy becomes woody and sparse, offering poor-quality habitat and limited feeding opportunities. Mowing also suppresses competing vegetation, allowing Tansy to thrive in open, sunlit conditions—ideal for both the plant and its glittering beetle.
Importantly, mowing outside the Tansy beetles’ active season avoids disturbing adults, larvae or eggs, making it a safe and effective conservation tool. This straightforward practice is now being rolled out across many of Yorkshire’s beetle sites to support and strengthen the remaining subpopulations.
A simple cut at the right time can help keep the iconic Tansy beetles shining.
Where have all the Gentians gone?
We knew during the summer that Field Gentian was likely to be struggling in the south of England, and by the time the Met Office confirmed the warmest summer on record many of the grasslands which had previously supported plants were little more than parched semi-deserts. The monitoring network remained in place, and we were thrilled to hear in July that a few plants had been spotted on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. Our staff and volunteers made multiple visits to the other southerly locations, but sadly no plants were found in the New Forest, which is a dramatic loss for sites where in good years plants can be counted in their thousands. Three days spent combing the Pembrokeshire coast only turned up 2 plants, and at the start of October three plants were found in the only site in Sussex, both exciting finds but significantly lower that the numbers required.
Although this is a rather alarming snapshot of what fate maybe awaiting this species in a warming world, we are happy that our long-term dataset for this species is becoming an increasingly valuable resource in documenting the impacts of climate change.
In north Wales, we've been undertaking very detailed monitoring of three sites over the last few years to better understand how the species responds to changes in management and the prevailing weather, particularly drought. And boy have we had a drought! We've had the driest spring and summer since 1979 - with just 172 mm of rain on Anglesey from February to May (the average is 315 mm). Since Field Gentian germinates in spring and flowers in late summer, there was a high chance it had suffered.
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At Aberffraw dunes, the largest site, numbers dropped from 779 plants last year to just 130 this year, all confined to a shallow damp ditch in the north west of the dunes. Plants had disappeared from a large dry area of rabbit warrens, and even dune slack populations - which tend to be wetter and fare better - had dried out. Similarly, near RAF Valley, a population that numbered 430 last year was reduced to just 287 plants. Again, these were mostly in the wettest part of the site, near to where stands of Black Bog-rush (Schoenus nigricans) thrive. The final site - Newborough - is very small with just a few or no plants, although one was found this year. By way of compensation, there were plenty of Autumn Lady's-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis) at all the sites, flowering abundantly thanks to the summer heat.
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What seems to be happening is that the species is very sensitive to soil moisture, so plants move around and appear in different spots depending on how wet the soil is. Sites that are very heterogenous, with lots of variation in ground height, tend to support good populations even in the driest years, as the lowest spots retain enough soil moisture. In wet years (like 2024), these spots are too wet and the plant grows instead on drier ground, such as around rabbit burrows. There is, in addition, a relationship with management. Field Gentian can't compete well with dense vegetation, so if grazing (either by livestock or rabbits) is reduced at a site, the species will retreat to smaller areas of short grass. Often, this means it's found alongside paths, where trampling keeps the vegetation short. At RAF Valley, the biggest patches are now alongside the Wales Coastal Path and have disappeared from the surrounding dunes.
New Forest Cicadas arrive in the UK!
The Species Recovery Trust is delighted to announce that we have successfully brought New Forest Cicadas back to the UK in the most significant step so far of our groundbreaking reintroduction project.
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On Wednesday, June 11, we imported 11 female cicadas which had been collected in France for us by a specialist entomologist. They are the very same species, Cicadetta montana, which used to live across the New Forest.
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Species Recovery Trust project officer Charlotte Carne took delivery of the precious cargo, and early the next morning took them to their new home, Paultons Park theme park on the edge of the New Forest. Charlotte, Trust director Dom Price and Paultons Park zookeeper Jack Williams then carefully transferred the cicadas into habitats which the zoo team created with some of the insects’ favourite plants including raspberry canes and hazel tree saplings.
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Two days later we were delighted to show our new arrivals to world-famous wildlife TV presenter Chris Packham, who lives a stone's throw away in the New Forest.​
​The day after that came perhaps the most exciting moment of all: the zoo team at Paultons Park saw the cicadas starting to oviposit - laying eggs in bracken fronds which they had added to the enclosures. Now we have to wait until the autumn to see if tiny cicada nymphs will hatch out, fall to the ground and then burrow under the soil where they can feed on the roots of the plants. Then it will be an even longer wait: cicadas of this species are believed to spend at least four years underground as nymphs, slowly feeding and growing. If all goes to plan, one day the fully-grown nymphs will tunnel up out of the ground, shed their skins and spread their wings. We then hope to make the first ever release of adult cicadas into the New Forest, at secret locations where the habitat is being managed specially for their arrival.​
​We also hope to import more cicadas from France to continue the captive rearing programme at Paultons Park so that we can make multiple releases into the forest and give the new population the best possible chance.
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The first-of-its-kind project has been funded by Natural England, the Swire Charitable Trust and the Valentine Charitable Trust.
Project officer Charlotte said: "This has been a really challenging project so it's amazing to see New Forest Cicadas in England after all this time. It's like bringing them back from the dead."
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Species Recovery Trust director Dominic Price said: "We believe the New Forest Cicada probably went extinct because of changes to the way land was managed, but we have worked with Forestry England to put the right kind of management in place. What's more, we think that our warming climate could also favour their survival, so we are very hopeful that one day soon, cicadas will sing in the New Forest again.”
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The New Forest Cicada, Cicadetta montana, was once found across the New Forest but the last confirmed sightings were in the 1990s. Adults are black with distinct golden rings and transparent wings. Females grow to about 5cm and males are slightly smaller. Like all cicadas, the males sing to attract females, though the call of the New Forest Cicada is so high-pitched that many people cannot hear it without special equipment.
New Forest Cicadas in Slovenia
​Our quest to reintroduce the New Forest Cicada back to the UK has seen really exciting progress this year. Part of this project has included research in Slovenia, where this species is known to reside in excellent numbers. Our 2025 expedition didn’t disappoint and has furthered our understanding of this mountain cicada, particularly with regard to habitat requirements. Our trip was focussed in the Idrija Geopark, a vast and highly diverse expanse of forest, where the New Forest Cicada is known to thrive. We undertook expansive and detailed habitat assessments, as well as searching for the animals themselves. This year, as well as trekking through the beautiful hillside forests, our trip took a slightly different angle and we engrossed ourselves in the local community, which lead to community walks, podcasts, school talks and tv appearances! Our work in Slovenia is not only furthering our understanding of this species, but raising its profile across its home range.
We based ourselves at the wonderful House-on-the-Hill, surrounded by exquisite views and most helpfully lots and lots of cicadas. Fortunately, despite not being able to hear this species because of its high frequency song, some fab bits of tech allowed us to sample many areas of the surrounding forests, all of which came up trumps for the cicada. One of our aims is to compare the DNA of specimens from Slovenia, northern France and England and so we searched high and low for exuviae (the skin shed during metamorphosis), which is usually left behind when they surface from the ground to become adults. Searches of vegetation were also made for basking and laying females, but despite hours and hours in the blistering heat, no animals or exuviae were found. Despite our failures, our lovely hosts continue this work on our behalf, searching for the animals and collecting vital information on activity and weather conditions.
Our previous trip in 2024 inspired the daughter of our hosts at House-on-the-Hill (Kristina Kenda) to join in the hunt for the cicada, and she has become the face of this species. The media attention capturing Kristina’s passion opened up the project to a wide audience, ultimately resulting in translocation of individuals from northern France to the UK this year. This would not have been possible without our Slovenian friends, and so part of our work this year was to engage with the local community in the Geopark area. We were lucky enough to be invited to a local community walk, where we learnt about the holistic approach to land management, stories about cicadas and the wonderfully diverse nature of their surroundings. This event encompasses the whole village, and the food provided was sourced by local hunters who control the numbers of deer, goats and bears (of which there are lots!!!). The venison goulash was absolutely divine. Next up, we were invited to visit Kristina’s school to give a presentation on the cicada project, and this, along with individual interviews, was filmed for the Slovenian TV channel, POP TV.
As with any reintroduction, the project has taken many different paths as new experiences and information has come to light. Our work in this fabulous country has provided an insight into the type of habitat that this species thrives, and this will in turn ensure we manage areas of the New Forest to mimic those in the Idrija GeoPark. In addition, our mission to engage with as many people as possible to raise awareness of this species across Europe has begun its journey. We sincerely hope to return to this truly magical place!
Critically endangered Welsh Groundsel struggles on
In north Wales, the focus over the last few weeks has been getting a full picture of how Welsh Groundsel is doing. This enigmatic endemic species originally evolved from a hybrid between Common Groundsel and Oxford Ragwort. In the 1990s, thousands of plants were recorded at many sites, mainly around Wrexham, Chirk, Ruabon and along the north Wales coast to Mochdre. But since then, it’s rather fallen under the radar and has declined considerably.
Last year, we surveyed nine sites where this species had been seen since the year 2000. Alarmingly, it was found at only five sites, with a total population of 168 plants. That was it - the entire world population (by comparison, there are 1,864 Giant Pandas in the wild!).
But what of the sites where it was so abundant in the 1990s? In order to get a true picture of the situation today, we had to visit more of these older sites. So this year, thanks to generous funding from Natural Resources Wales, we were able to visit every site where it had been recorded since 1987 - the five sites where it had been seen last year, and 12 additional old sites.
It was a bit of a challenging task. Most botanists get to visit glamorous or even romantic wild places, getting themselves deeply immersed in nature. Welsh Groundsel grows along the sides of roads - especially busy ones with lots of litter! So on some of the hottest days of the year, I scoured all 17 sites, looking for plants, listing associated species to understand each plant community, and searching surrounding roads and streets for signs of other populations.
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​Sadly, the situation is worse than we feared. As well as fewer plants in the five known sites, none of the additional old sites supported any plants at all, and I returned home after each search with a sinking heart. In all, there were just 50 plants this year across the five known sites. No wonder this vanishingly rare plant has just been classed as Critically Endangered.
So, now we know the full picture, we can plan for the future. Our efforts will have two main aims. Firstly, we’ll ensure the five remaining populations are in their best possible condition, removing threats like scrub encroachment (mainly from the hedgerow growing over the pavement) and herbicide use, which sadly is still evident at one site. Secondly, we’ll prepare the ground for reintroductions to some of the old sites, getting them into good condition before - hopefully - re-establishing Welsh Groundsel from seed. It’ll be a long road to recovery, but well worth the effort to save one of our rarest plants from what appears to be imminent extinction.
Grapefruits, Mosses & Springs: Hope for the Green Barred Colonel
In Dalby Forest within the North Yorkshire Moors, a tiny green soldierfly is sparking a conservation movement. The Green Barred Colonel Odontomyia hydroleon, Britain's rarest insect, survives on a single site—and thanks to an ambitious partnership project, its future is looking brighter.
Red-listed in Britain as Critically Endangered, this rare insect relies on a delicate web of habitat features: tufa springs, damp mosses, and a microclimate only found in this unique corner of the forest. To protect it, the Species Recovery Trust has joined forces with Forestry England, The Deep aquarium, and leading Diptera specialists in a bid to safeguard its final refuge.
From rush-cutting and scrub removal to carefully timed cattle grazing, volunteers and Forest England staff are fine-tuning the land to help restore the tufa fen ecosystem the Green Barred Colonel depends on. These subtle interventions are essential—not just for the adult flies, but for their larvae, which rely on spring-fed mosses to develop.
In a novel twist, grapefruit halves are being used to uncover the secrets of the soldierfly’s lifecycle. Used as makeshift shelters, these citrus sampling stations are showing us where larvae are hiding across the site. In addition, adult surveys, led by Diptera expert Ian Andrews, have already turned up unexpected findings, including that adults are feeding on hogweed nectar outside the core breeding grounds.
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The Deep is also adding its expertise to the project through conducting regular water level checks and water quality sampling. Allowing us to understand the subtle shifts in this spring-fed habitat that could reveal emerging threats—and help develop strategies to keep the site resilient in the face of climate change. Together, all these efforts form a dynamic recovery plan for the Green Barred Colonel in order to secure its fragile future.
Heath Tiger Beetles enjoying the sun
You may remember that for the last few years we have been running a captive breeding project for Heath Tiger Beetles. We started by breeding their common cousin, the Green Tiger Beetle, before moving on to the real deal. This year, we were thrilled to see the emergence of our first adult Heath Tiger Beetles in captivity. So far, two males have emerged, with another five beetles still developing in the soil. We captured some female partners for the males and are hoping to expand the size of the captive population, ready for reintroductions in the coming years.
We'd also like to say a big thank you to all the volunteers that have helped with Heath Tiger Beetle surveys in Surrey this year. We started the season with an exciting finding of a female Heath Tiger Beetle at Brentmoor - the first we have seen there since 2022. We then ran two fantastic volunteer days, with volunteers from SRT, Defra and Natural England, where we found a number of beetles doing really well on their stronghold sites!
New discoveries of Dwarf Milkwort in the North
This spring there have been some exciting developments for the Dwarf Milkwort project in the Yorkshire Dales. A completely new site for Dwarf Milkwort in Wharfedale was found during a SRT volunteer day, which was hugely significant as it is not near any other known existing or former sites.
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Out of eight sites known for Dwarf Milkwort in the 1980’s, only two still have existing populations. Although it is always possible that plants have gone undetected on the other sites as they are so tiny and easy to miss, the associated habitat changes mean it is unlikely that they are still present.
If this wasn’t exciting enough, one of our SRT volunteers has also found a possible site in Wensleydale. From the photographs, the plant looks highly likely to be Dwarf Milkwort, and we look forward to confirming this with a site visit next spring. This will be even more significant as there are no known sites at all in Wensleydale.
Further surveys have also taken place this spring at Highfolds, Malham where we are in the third season of counting and mapping the Dwarf Milkwort population. Three further sub-sites were found, bring the known population there to just under 1000 plants.
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Thanks goes to the Swinden Quarry Natural Environment Fund for funding our work on Dwarf Milkwort in Wharfedale, and to the National Trust for funding the surveys at Malham.
While reintroductions provide hope in the South
A fabulous collaboration of specialists may prove to be this species saving grace, as worryingly, Kentish Milkwort numbers continue to decline at its native sites. Despite it being a difficult species to survey, this pattern of decline has seen the stronghold drop by little more than half from 76 plants in 2024 to 47 in 2025. Even more worrying, this is the fourth year running that the plant hasn’t been found at Purple Hill, and the first year where its not be found at Magpie Bottom. These are the last remaining native sites for Kent’s hidden gem.
This continued pattern of decline emphasizes how vulnerable this species is, and so our efforts are focussed, firstly on appropriately managing the existing sites, and secondly on conducting introductions in suitable locations.
Fortunately, the recent swathe of introductions have bolstered the population, but with varying levels of success this species continues to be at very real risk of extinction. The most recent of these was at Peter’s Pit, and despite only 3 plants surviving from the 20 planted last autumn, all were flowering during the second wave of planting in April 2025. An additional 20 plants were introduced to the site in April, and a check in May has seen 11 plants survive in total. Part of this introduction was to trial whether Dwarf Milkwort would survive on flat land, as all extant (introduced and native) populations are on sloping chalk downland. All surviving plants have been found on the steep sides of the quarry, and those within the flat land have all disappeared. We will continue to search in both areas for regeneration.
Many many thanks to the specialists at Kent Wildlife Trust, the Millenium Seed Bank, Natural England, the fabulous Vice County Recorders and volunteers, for their continued dedication to this wonderful cause!
New Forest Cicada project update
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There have been a few changes in our New Forest Cicada project!
In November, we reported that we had returned from our collection trip to Slovenia empty-handed, but our extremely generous hosts in the Idrija Geopark had offered to put out nets on their land to try to catch some emerging cicadas this summer which we could then return to collect.
We were delighted to get some great media coverage for that update, including in The Guardian and on Slovenian TV news. What we didn't expect was what happened next: a number of academics from across Europe who saw the coverage got in touch with us to offer their expert advice. One of the key bits of advice they gave was that there are populations of New Forest Cicada (Cicadetta montana) in northern France which they felt were likely to be much more genetically similar to the last English cicadas than the population we were planning to collect from in Slovenia. We had chosen Slovenia based on the sonic similarity of the songs the cicadas produce there compared to the last recordings from the New Forest, but we were very grateful for the input from some eminent entomologists and, after much discussion, have reviewed our plans to make the project even better.
Based on that input, we have now teamed up with a prominent French entomologist and cicada expert, who has experience catching Cicadetta montana, and he has agreed to go to a population he knows in northern France in June to try to catch as many as he can for us.
Meanwhile, SRT director Dom Price and conservation officer Holly Stanworth are still planning to go to Slovenia as planned to gather more information about the population there, and we are also planning to do genetic analysis to compare the Slovenian and French populations to some of the last English specimens at the Natural History Museum in London. If all goes to plan, we are hoping that we can get the first live adults into our artificial habitats at Paulton's Park in June - then we just have to hope that love is in the air and our honeymooning homopterans are in the mood to mate!
Watch this space.
Our Annual Report is out now!
If you want to find out more about what we got up to in 2024 then look no further than our annual report which is out now!
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The annual report gives an overview of all the species we have been working with and the important conservation work we have completed to support these threatened populations. Plus you can find out more about our training and volunteer work too!
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Take a look now!
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Heath Tiger Beetle Habitat Creation
The SRT's Programmnes Manager, Charlotte Carne has been busy supporting the Surrey Wildlife Trust on their Brentmoor Heath Nature Reserve with their efforts to create new habitat for the endangered Heath Tiger Beetle Cicindela sylvatica.
Areas of scrubby undergrowth were cleared to create patches of bare ground, which emulates the historic activity of humans and large herbivores within heathland habitat. The beetle relies upon these open areas for feeding on small invertebrates and also to provide suitable breeding habitat. In addition to the habitat work, Charlotte was scoping out the reserve as a possible new site for reintroductions as part of the SRT's ongoing work with this species.
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For more information on the Brentmoor Heath habitat work, take a look at the Surrey Wildlife Trust's article here and if you want to know more about the Heath Tiger Beetle projects we're involved in, then take a look at our Species Page.
New Forest Cicada project update
​This summer we went on an expedition to Slovenia to catch the elusive New Forest Cicada and begin our groundbreaking UK reintroduction project (read more below). Disappointingly, the main finding of our trip was that Cicadetta montana is an extremely hard cicada to find! Sadly we came home empty-handed - but we have learnt a huge amount about this wonderfully enigmatic species and are already planning our next trip.
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With funding from Natural England, SRT director Dom Price and conservation officer Holly Stanworth flew to Slovenia in June and spent a magical week in the beautiful Idrija Geopark. We stayed in a holiday home run by Katarina and her lovely family, who have now become crucial volunteers in the project!
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Over four days of tireless hunting, during which we were honoured to be joined by Slovenian entomologist Matija Gogala, we are delighted to report that we did find hundreds of the tiny mud turrets which the cicada nymphs build when they emerge from the ground - but despite hours of patiently waiting by the turrets and some very careful excavations, we didn't see a single nymph. With Matija's parabolic microphone we were also able to detect the very high-frequency calls of numerous males but all the songs came from high up in the tall forest trees, and they moved rapidly. Matija revealed that in all his years of surveying he had only ever seen one adult come down to ground level.
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Despite searching up to the last minute on our final day, we weren't able to lock eyes on a single cicada. We left disappointed but not defeated and immediately embarked on a new phase of the project.​
​​Firstly, after we had left Slovenia, our extremely generous hosts Katarina and Mitja and their young daughter Kristina agreed to put out nets on their land in an area where we had seen cicada turrets. Although the nets didn't catch anything this year, Kristina has already agreed to put them out again for us in May before the emergence season begins, and with the number of turrets we saw in that area, this technique alone could catch enough adults to start the UK phase of the project. We are also keen to put motion-activated trail cameras by the nets to find out more about how the nymphs emerge. And Kristina will be monitoring the turrets throughout the winter to give us a more accurate picture of when the nymphs first become active, and whether they build new turrets in the spring or just use the existing ones.
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We are now aiming to return to Katarina's beautiful house in June when we are confident that, with everything we have learnt, we are in the best possible position to finally bag our quarry. In the meantime we are looking at new sources of funding.
Dwarf Milkwort Reintroductions
With just two native sites left for this dainty but elegant plant, the SRT have been working with partners, Kent Wildlife Trust, Kew Gardens, Natural England as well as dedicated volunteers to secure its future in Kent.
Dwarf milkwort Polygalla amaarella is notoriously difficult to propagate, but our friends at Wakehurst Place have successfully provided nearly 80 plants for reintroduction sites. Back in 2021 we introduced 17 plants onto a chalk bank at Queendown Warren in Kent, where the plant historically grew nearby. We are extremely excited to report that this number has grown, year on year, and we are now up to 86 plants as of 2024.
With the pressures of climate change and erratic weather patterns, this is really encouraging and has provided invaluable information about how to proceed with future introductions
The Species Recovery Trust's Golden Ticket
Congratulations to Oliver Lamford – winner of the SRT Golden Ticket! Ollie will have access to a free place on up to fifteen of our online training courses and two of our field courses. In return for this fantastic package, he will be providing some useful insights via social media on his training experiences.
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The calibre of applicants was so high this year, that we could not resist awarding some runner up prizes as well! A huge well done to our runners up who will all receive a free place on one of our online courses over the next year to help them with their conservation work and projects.
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Thank you to all the applicants that took part, we were truly inspired by the projects you have been working on and the commitment you show!
We will be running the Golden Ticket competition next year so keep your eyes peeled and don’t forget we offer a host of free resources via our Training Resources Page so why not check it out!
New Forest Cicada
The singing insects that provide a shimmering soundtrack to Mediterranean summers are to be reintroduced to the UK. The New Forest Cicada, Cicadetta montana, was once found across the New Forest National Park but there have been no confirmed sightings since the 1990s, despite efforts by the Species Recovery Trust (SRT).
Now, a tiny team of passionate experts including animal keepers at Paultons Park theme park are planning to catch cicadas of the same species in Slovenia, bring them back to England and start a new population in the forest.
The daring, first-of-its-kind project is being led by the SRT. Lead project officer Charlotte Carne said: "This whole project is a really exciting experiment: the adult cicadas are going to be extremely hard to spot, and although they do sing, it's pretty much impossible to hear the song if you're over 30 so we have to use bat detectors. Our officers are going out to Slovenia for just three days and we might not catch any cicadas. Even if we do, we then need to wait six years to find out if the first generation makes it to adulthood. It's so exciting, but also a little tense!"
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The SRT has assessed the habitat management techniques the species needs to survive and has worked with Forestry England to put this management in place so they are now ready to attempt a reintroduction. Given the New Forest is already at the northern edge of the species’ natural range, climate change might also favour the reintroduction. Now Natural England has given the SRT £28,000 as part of its Species Recovery Programme to bring the population back from the dead. The project is also being supported by the Valentine Charitable Trust.
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In June, a team from the SRT will travel to Slovenia and team up with entomologist Matija Gogala and a geopark officer to find cicadas from a population of the same subspecies last found in the New Forest. The team hope to find and bring back five males and five females to the UK via a specialist courier.
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Once the cicadas have cleared customs, Charlotte will take the cicadas to Paultons Park on the edge of the New Forest National Park, who are kindly giving their expertise and a significant amount of time to the cicada project free of charge. Over the past six months, the zoo team at Paultons Park have been creating a cicada habitat that will hopefully enable the species to breed. The cicadas will be carefully released in male-female pairs into these bespoke honeymoon suites, comprising plant pots filled with plant saplings and covered in netting.
If all goes to plan, then in January next year Charlotte will take a selection of plant pots to three top-secret woodland glades in the New Forest and plant them out. Meanwhile, Paultons Park will keep more of the pots with nymphs in the soil as a back-up, in the hopes that they will also hatch one day and could provide a captive population that could feed the one in the forest.
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Bringing live adults back to the UK has never been attempted before, and any cicada nymphs that hatch this year will spend the next six-to-eight years underground feeding on plant roots, so it will be impossible to know whether even the first step of the reintroduction has been successful until 2030 at the earliest.
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Watch this space!
Marsh Clubmoss in Dorset
Over the last two decades our monitoring has revealed a steady decline in Marsh Clubmoss on the Dorset Heaths, and while some vast sites still remain, the overall range has dramatically contracted.
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Initial work had focussed on monitoring declines and working to improve management on the sites, but this, on its own, has not been enough to reverse the decline.
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In 2023, with initial funding from the Natural England Species Recovery Programme, we have started working on a 'proof of concept' of moving plants into new and extant sites, to see whether translocation is a viable option, and whether particulate techniques are better than others. We all then be mounting these sites over the next ten years to gauge the success or failure of this work.
Field Cow-wheat in Wiltshire
Since 2019 we have been working to prevent the extinction of Field Cow-wheat in Wiltshire, following on from the sale of its only privately owned site to new owners.
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To date we have created 3 new sites for the species, which are all in their early days of establishment, with the eventual aim that they become self-sustaining by the year 2030.