Butterflies’ Bridgend habitat protected by volunteers – and cows

With its brilliant orange wings and black markings, the high brown fritillary butterfly was once widespread in Wales and England.

But now it’s one of the rarest of all British butterflies, with it numbers declining by 62% since 1970.

One reason is its incredibly specific requirements to survive.

“They are the pickiest,” says Paul Dunn, who for more than 30 years has been working hard among the bracken of the Alun Valley at Old Castle Down, near Bridgend, south Wales, to revive the butterfly’s fortunes.

And now, the volunteers have enlisted the help of a far more common animal, by allowing cows to graze on the site.