Inside the efforts to save endangered butterfly at the Scottish Parliament

For years a Scottish subspecies of the northern brown argus butterfly, found almost only on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, was hunted to near extinction by butterfly collectors in the Victoria era.

Thanks to a “safe haven” in the Palace of Holyroodhouse’s gardens, the butterfly was able to survive - but even now in the 21st century, it is still classed as “vulnerable” to extinction.

In recent years there has been a concerted effort in the area to try to save the insect from further decline.

This includes in the Scottish Parliament itself, where the conservation team is working hard to create the safe habitat these butterflies might depend on.

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Victoria Barby, sustainable development performance manager at the parliament, told Scotland on Sunday of the efforts she and her team are making to save this little-known butterfly.

She said: “This butterfly was thought to be extinct because during the Victorian times collectors paid kids to go up Arthur’s Seat and pick the butterflies.

“We are trying to encourage the butterfly population back because it is only found around the Arthur’s Seat area.”

The team has covered some of the parliament’s roof with rockrose, the butterfly’s preferred habitat, to help encourage the northern brown argus butterfly and caterpillar to thrive.

Staff then need to access the rockrose using high ropes to water it and maintain the habitat throughout the year.

Ms Barby said: “It is very important we do this because we are in a biodiversity crisis.

“We are losing species, particularly insects, all the time.

“Insects are so important because they are pollinators - without them we would not have any food, which is an issue.

“Every insect that we can protect and encourage will be really helpful because as a species ourselves we need them to survive.”

Ms Barby says most people will be completely unaware of the vital work she and her team are doing behind-the-scenes at the parliament - but that does not make it any less important.

She said: “It is not easy to spot these butterflies, and the caterpillars even less so, because they are high above your head.

“People would not even know all of this was going on.

“But hopefully if people are at parliament and look out at the members’ garden they will see a lot of different species and biodiversity.

“We are trying to do everything we can to improve biodiversity in the area as much as possible.”

Ms Barby hopes the measures her team are taking will be successful in bringing the northern brown argus butterfly out of the “vulnerable” to extinction category. However, she adds “having some difference is better than doing nothing”.

She said: “A little bit helps - it is our duty to do what we can, particularly in our own back yard, everything we can.

“This butterfly effect can encourage biodiversity and species to grow across the country and across the world.”

The team is hoping to get biodiversity specialists into Holyrood soon to see if their efforts have been successful in maintaining this unique species of butterfly and caterpillar.