Conservationists who have helped reintroduce a butterfly back into England have been awarded £150,000 to expand the project over the next three years.
In total, 46 Chequered Skippers were released into Rockingham Forest close to Corby, Northamptonshire, in May, using a donor population from Belgium.
The funding has been given to the Butterfly Conservation charity from Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme with the hope the species will be reintroduced to Peterborough.
Dr Jamie Wildman, based in Kettering, and from the charity, said the money would go towards “self-sufficiency of the reintroduced population, to ensure these beautiful insects can thrive in England once again”.