A SITE which is home to an endangered species of butterfly will be fenced off to try and help it survive.

The small pearl bordered fritillary breeding site, near Ruspidge Halt in Cinderford, is one of just two left in the Forest, and urgent action is needed to protect it.

In the 1980s there were 40 known breeding sites, but that has shrunk dramatically, threatening the beautiful insect’s existence in the region.

Foresters’ Forest – a Heritage Lottery Fund programme – is working with Butterfly Conservation and the Forestry Commission to put up fencing around the prime habitat site alongside a stretch of the Cinderford Brook.

An Foresters’ Forest spokeswoman said fencing the site would create opportunities for local graziers to get involved to help secure the future of the important Forest of Dean species. 

The site needs careful management and protection to create the right conditions for the elusive butterfly to breed.

Voluntary conservation advisor Simon Glover said the Forest of Dean was the only part of Gloucestershire where the species remained.

“This will allow us to do conservation grazing, keeping animals in one place,” he said.

“We’re basically putting things back to how they were 30 or 40 years ago to try and encourage the habitat to be much better.”

Butterfly Conservation says the small pearl-bordered fritillary has undergone a “severe decline” in England since the 1970s.