Update 6th January 2021

Currently Butterfly Conservation’s guidance for Branch activities is to observe the government advice in your local area.
The single most important action we can all take, in fighting coronavirus, is to stay at home in order to protect the NHS and save lives. Bearing this in mind, Butterfly Conservation strongly advises that you adhere to the message from the government.
Please do not make any journeys away from your home in order to undertake recording activities, these would be considered as non-essential at the present time.
We will continue to monitor this situation closely and will produce revised guidance when the time is right. We recommend that you continue to follow the UK Government’s response to the situation at https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Update 15th May 2020

Dear Transect Walkers and WCBS Recorders,
Following on from the Government’s recent review of their Coronavirus guidance, and the response of the various country administrations, we now have a situation where outdoor activities are much less restricted in England than they are in the rest of the UK.
As a result of this, and following discussions with all our project partners, the UKBMS is pleased to announce that butterfly monitoring can resume, but in ENGLAND ONLY.
Unfortunately we will still need to continue with the suspension of monitoring in Wales, Scotland an Northern Ireland, but we will continue to review this as the situation develops.
Please read our latest COVID-19 guidance note, which can be found here.
Please also read our Health & Safety guidance note, which has been updated to include advice on COVID-19 here.
There are, of course, still some important considerations to take into account – eg. is there public access to your site? Can you safely maintain social distancing throughout the route? Are you in a clinically vulnerable group? It’s important to us that you do not feel under any pressure to resume monitoring if you are not comfortable doing so.
If you’re happy that you can resume butterfly monitoring without undue risk of contracting or spreading coronavirus, then please get out, enjoy the sunshine and count butterflies!
Best wishes and stay safe.

Update 15th April 2020

Updated guidance for butterfly and moth recorders relating to Coronavirus Covid-19
The UK Government delivered a very strong and clear message on 23rd March 2020 with their updated guidance:

The single most important action we can all take, in fighting coronavirus, is to stay at home in order to protect the NHS and save lives.

Bearing this in mind, Butterfly Conservation strongly advises that you must not leave home in order to record butterflies and moths.
This is not a permitted reason to leave home and would be a breach of Government restrictions. Recording of butterflies and moths seen at home, or when leaving home for permitted purposes (in line with current Government information), can continue.
We will monitor this situation closely and will produce revised guidance when the time is right. Please check for any updates at www.butterfly-conservation.org.
We recommend that you continue to follow the UK Government’s response to the situation at https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus.
If you have any doubts or queries regarding this advice, please feel free to contact the recording team at recording@butterfly-conservation.org

Update 4th April 2020

IMPORTANT: We can continue to receive your sightings but please remember that, in accordance with current UK Government restrictions, you MUST NOT make any journeys away from home in order to record butterflies and moths, as these would be considered non-essential journeys. More information on recording during the current circumstances can be found on the Butterfly Conservation website.