Butterfly Survey 2025 - Get involved
See also Download 'How To' guides (in English, Deutsch, Français, српски) | Butterfly surveys in your region or country | FAQs |
Why count butterflies?
Butterflies are good indicators for the quality of habitats. Many butterfly species are highly dependent on the availability of certain food plants and the presence of landscape features such as hedges, trees or forest edges. Butterflies are therefore sensitive to changes in habitat quality, land use intensity and landscape structure. For this reason, the EU has decided to include the Grassland butterfly index as one of three indicators of the quality of agricultural ecosystems.
How can you participate?
Counting butterflies is fun, easy, relaxing and only takes 15 minutes of your time. All you need is an observation site (ideally on agricultural land) and the Butterfly Survey app installed on your phone (download below). If you don't have a smartphone, you can also find printable recording sheets here in English and Deutsch.
Spread the word!
Please spread the word among your friends, colleagues and neighbours! The more people counting butterflies, the more reliable the conclusions we can draw from the data, and the better we can adapt our farming practices to benefit biodiversity.
Download the Butterfly Survey app here
Register your observation site!
Before you start counting butterflies somewhere, please register the site as part of 'Agroecology-TRANSECT' so that we can access your observations.
When registering the site on the App, you will be asked for specific information about its characteristics, such as crop type, neighbouring habitats, and management (if you know). These details help us draw conclusions from your data.
Find out more
Download 'How To' guides (in English, Deutsch, Français, српски)
Butterfly surveys in your region or country
FAQs
If you wish to conduct 'transect' observations using the European Butterfly Monitoring Scheme protocol (Pollard walk), please contact your scheme coordinator.
Contact us at: guy[dot.]peer[at/’@’]idiv[dot.]de