Tag: 2024

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 9 August 2024.

The rare dark bordered beauty moth exists at one last known site in England – a military training area near York.

The Ministry of Defence is working with partners to save the moth from extinction while continuing to use the site to conduct essential training to keep Britain safe.

The Ministry of Defence owns most of the moth’s English habitat, Strensall Common, which is a 570-hectare area of open heathland, designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Lying east of the North Yorkshire village of Strensall, in the Vale of York, the site is used for military training, with some areas managed by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Forestry England.

The small but striking moth is a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Numbers of the dark bordered beauty moth have declined by over 90% since recording first began at Strensall Common, with as little as 50 to 100 believed to remain at the site. The moth’s presence has been recorded at the common since 1894.

The moth favours sheltered locations at the woodland’s edges where its sole foodplant, creeping willow, can be found growing. Creeping willow habitats are threatened by factors such as wildfires and sheep grazing – leading to a steep decline in the moth’s population since systematic monitoring began in 2007.

Grazing of cattle and sheep on Strensall Common is essential to prevent the growth of trees and shrubs and maintain the site’s internationally important lowland heath habitats. However, grazing has caused the loss of creeping willow plants, meaning fewer good sites for the moth caterpillars to feed, and reduced opportunities for the moths to lay eggs in the summer.

To help save the moth from extinction in England, Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has provided funding and materials through its Conservation Stewardship Fund to create fenced enclosures around areas of low-growing creeping willow across the training area. Additional funding has been provided by Yorventure, an independent not-for-profit initiative supporting community and environmental projects in the City of York and North Yorkshire.

Defence Minister Luke Pollard said:

The first duty of any government is protecting our citizens, and I commend these conservation efforts to protect the wildlife that call our estate home and have no impact on our essential training activity.

It’s brilliant to see the work we’re doing with partners to safeguard the survival of this wonderful moth while conducting training at the same site to keep Britain secure.

The work has been carried out by the Butterfly Conservation charity with the support of ecologists working for DIO, volunteers from the MOD Strensall Conservation Group, and experts from the University of York’s Department of Biology. Volunteers have also planted creeping willows grown from local seeds across Strensall Common to bolster habitats for the moth.

While these efforts have been instrumental in preventing the loss of the dark bordered beauty moth from Strensall Common, its population remains low and under threat. Conservationists are therefore considering trialling a captive breeding scheme to establish new populations of the moth in surrounding regions of York. This follows a recent project which saw the release of 160 dark bordered beauty moth caterpillars into a site in Scotland’s Cairngorm mountains, where the only other surviving populations of the moth in Britain can be found.

In the meantime, it is hoped that the continuing work to protect habitats for the dark bordered beauty moth at Strensall Common will ensure the site remains a stronghold for the species.

DIO Training Safety Officer and Chair of the MOD Strensall Conservation Group Major (Retired) Patrick Ennis said:

The Defence estate is home to some of the most valuable sites for nature and wildlife in the UK. While the primary use of the land is to enable our military to train, we are equally committed to supporting nature recovery by balancing the conservation of species and their habitats with military training requirements.

The determined efforts of the MOD Strensall Conservation Group, Butterfly Conservation and local experts and volunteers have been key to preventing the dark bordered beauty from becoming extinct at its last known site in England, but unfortunately its numbers are still in decline. Continued collaboration will be essential in giving the moth the best chance of recovering its population.

Head of Conservation (England), Butterfly Conservation Dr Dave Wainwright said:

Despite ongoing conservation work by Butterfly Conservation, MOD and our partners, the dark bordered beauty remains at risk of extinction in England. It is crucial that our work to protect it at Strensall continues; at the same time, we need to restore suitable habitat elsewhere and enable the spread of the moth if its chances of survival are to be enhanced.

Dr Peter Mayhew from the University of York’s Department of Biology said:

The dark bordered beauty population at Strensall Common is of enormous cultural importance as it was the population where the moth was first discovered in the UK, and has been most frequently visited by entomologists interested in finding the moth.

The moth has only survived thanks to the protection of the heathland provided by the military training area. Seeing the moth fly on a sunny morning is a never-to-be-forgotten experience which future generations deserve to enjoy.

The work being undertaken to protect the moth’s habitats is in line with the Government’s commitment to protect and restore nature and deliver the Environment Act targets.

The press release issued by Ministry of Defence on 9 August 2024.

The UK has demonstrated it’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific as a series of major multinational military exercises conclude.

• The Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Royal Marines have taken part in a series of major exercises in the Indo-Pacific region
• Deployments saw UK personnel operate alongside nearly thirty international partners in exercises taking place in Australia, India, and Hawaii
• Exercises demonstrate the UK’s enduring commitment to supporting security and stability in the region, which is critical for the UK economy

Hundreds of UK Armed Forces personnel have been deployed in the Indo-Pacific region this summer to participate in a series of major multi-national exercises across air, land, and sea in support of collective security and stability.

The Indo-Pacific is crucial to the UK’s economy due to the significant trade volume associated with the region and the UK works closely with partners and allies to promote its stability.

Activity throughout the last month has seen Royal Air Force fighter jets fly more than 9,000 miles to train in a series of exercises alongside aircraft from more than 20 different nations, while the Royal Marines landed on the northern shores of Australia as part of a series of amphibious assault exercises.

The deployments provided a unique opportunity to demonstrate the ability of the UK Armed Forces to conduct global deployments and work closely with partners and allies to integrate and operate alongside each other more effectively.

Defence Secretary John Healey said:

This Government is determined to build on our Indo-Pacific commitments.

Euro-Atlantic security is inextricably linked to stability in the Indo-Pacific. These deployments of the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Royal Marines strengthen our bonds and interoperability with our important partners.

Our deployment of the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales next year will further deliver on our commitment to strengthening UK relationships in the region.

Flying more than 9,000 miles from the UK to Australia, six Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets and a Voyager refuelling aircraft joined more than 140 aircraft from 20 different nations for Exercise Pitch Black during July.

The journey to Australia, called Griffin Strike, was carried out jointly with the French Air and Space Force, further emphasising our deep defence ties during the 120th year of the Entente Cordiale.

In week one, the RAF practiced air-to-air combat engagements against another nation, while in weeks two and three the aircrew focused on intercept scenarios in a complex air environment, meaning participants were divided into either ‘red team’ or ‘blue team’, flying from separate locations attacking one another in varying scenarios. The overarching aim was to practice offensive counter-air and defensive counter-air combat in an airspace that is larger than the UK.

Meanwhile, landing on the beaches of Northern Australia, the Royal Marine Commandos conducted amphibious warfighting exercises with Australia, the US and the Philippines. Exercise Predators Run enabled the Commandos to practice deploying from small boats onto the shore, where they could form the spearhead of an assault onto land.

Patrolling the skies around Hawaii, two RAF P-8A Poseidon aircraft also joined 28 other nations at the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises for their longest and furthest range exercise ever. The P-8A is a state-of-the-art multi-role maritime patrol aircraft that excels at anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and search and rescue missions.

And starting this week, an RAF contingent of 130 personnel, six Typhoons, two Voyagers, and an A400M transport aircraft arrived in India to take part in India’s largest multinational air exercise, Tarang Shakti. The RAF will fly alongside aircraft from the US, Germany, France, and other nations in the coming weeks.

International alliances are a crucial component of a secure Britain, and domestically the Government will ensure that defence and security are at the heart of economic growth and the prosperity of the UK. In 2023 the defence industry supported more than 200,000 UK jobs to make and sustain the critical equipment used globally by our Armed Forces.

The UK remains committed to upholding the stability of the Indo-Pacific as demonstrated through the Royal Navy’s maintenance of a persistent presence through HMS Spey and HMS Tamar, and in 2025 the Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group will deploy to region to exercise with partners and allies to help promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.