UK butterfly populations have declined sharply over recent decades due to habitat loss, agricultural intensification and climate change, with welfare and ecological implications.
While insect welfare is less clearly understood than vertebrate welfare, there is growing evidence that insects including butterflies may have some capacity for pain experience. The mass decline of butterfly populations represents loss of billions of individual animal lives and the complex ecological relationships they support. Conservation efforts that restore habitat and reduce pesticide exposure benefit both butterfly welfare and ecosystem function.