Developing best practices in butterfly conservation in Central and Eastern Europe

Introduction

The Metamorphosis project focuses on the conservation of 15 butterfly species listed in Annexes II and IV of the EU Habitats Directive. The targeted species include:

• Colias myrmidone
• Callimorpha quadripunctaria
• Euphydryas aurinia
• Euphydryas maturna
• Eriogaster catax
• Lopinga achine
• Lycaena dispar
• Lycaena helle
• Phengaris (Maculinea) arion
• Phengaris (Maculinea) nausithous
• Phengaris (Maculinea) teleius
• Parnassius mnemosyne
• Parnassius apollo
• Pseudophylotes bavius
• Zerynthia polyxena

This initiative will take place in three Member States: Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania.

Habitat Restoration

The project will also target the restoration of habitat type 6210 Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia). This habitat is crucial as it includes:

• Important orchid sites in many SCIs targeted
• Homes to many target species of the project (Colias myrmidone, Phengaris species, Parnassius apollo)
• Other important pollinators (such as wild bees, wasps, hoverflies, bee-flies, moths)

Special Focus

Colias myrmidone is a special focus of the project in central Romania, which is one of the last strongholds of this species. Its population is rapidly declining across central Europe.

Project Activities

The project carries out best practices in habitat management and concrete restoration activities directly targeting populations of these species. Key objectives include:

1. Bringing nature back to agricultural land
2. Improving high biodiversity features
3. Contributing to halting pollinator decline
4. Improving connectivity of the network of protected areas

Stakeholder Engagement

Farmers and other stakeholders will be included in decision processes, direct restoration, and management of habitats to ensure the sustainability of results.

Citizen Science and Knowledge Transfer

The project will promote citizen science in monitoring and a bottom-up approach to the designation of protected areas. It aims to:

• Measure and integrate the value of nature in project areas
• Transfer knowledge (including to policymakers)
• Replicate results to other areas of occurrence of these species

Integration in Europe

The project will integrate Slovakia and Romania into the broader European context.