Save our butterflies!

Did you know that 93% of our native butterflies and moths exist only in New Zealand and if they become extinct, we cannot reintroduce them. The family of copper butterflies are a great example. They are native to NZ whereas the monarch and cabbage white butterflies are not. Some native butterflies are already teetering on the edge of survival such as a tiny purple copper butterfly which exists only in one coastal car-park in the South Island.

We all need our butterflies to thrive so that they can continue their important work as pollinators, just like our bees. However successive governments have invested too little in research and taxonomy (naming a species). We are far behind most other countries of the world.

If we act now we have a chance to change this. You can help us to continue our important work to identify them and understand their habitats, so that we can save our butterflies from extinction through better conservation. The more we know about them through scientific research, the easier it will be to protect them.

Please help us to raise $15,000 in 12 days so that the Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust (MBNZT) can finally fund a PhD student to formally identify our copper butterflies through DNA and scientific research.

Let’s give our native butterflies a name and a voice!