Chester Zoo is embarking on a mammoth task to reintroduce a rare native species back to the UK. Spiky barberry plants are being planted along hundreds of miles of canal towpaths in an effort to save the barberry carpet moth. Once widespread throughout the UK, the moth is now only found in small pockets after both the moth and its main source of food – the barberry plant Berberis vulgaris – went into decline.

By planting barberry bushes along the Shropshire Union Canal, linking Chester Zoo, Twycross Zoo and Dudley Zoo, it is hoped that the moth population will eventually increase. Horticulturists from Chester Zoo will grow 500 plants a year in their greenhouses for planting, with the whole project expected to take a number of years.

We may seem to be going to extreme lengths to protect a moth, but the barberry carpet moth, Pareulype berberata, is one of Britain’s 10 rarest and most threatened moth species. Native species of all kinds are important to UK biodiversity, and a moth is no different. We need to providie the right amount of food for the moths, so we grow the plants at the Zoo until they are mature enough to be planted out.

The project was the brainchild of Ian Hughes, Native Species Co-ordinator at Dudley Zoo. Bushes will be planted every 100 m along towpaths connecting the three zoos, and the planting team hopes to cover 20 km during the first year of the project. The Canal and River Trust will provide a barge and additional support to help the planting team.

Mark Sparrow
Curator of Botany and Horticulture, Chester Zoo