The mission of the Swallowtail and Birdwing Butterfly Trust is to conserve and protect members of the Papilionidae, a worldwide family of more than 550 species that include the largest, most spectacular and most endangered butterflies on the planet.
We achieve this in four ways: we raise financial resources; convene networks and partnerships; catalyse action, and provide scientific and technical support to conservation projects.
Our work is generally planned and executed in the context of wider butterfly faunas, their foodplants, and the ecosystems that they inhabit.
In legal terms the Trust is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), registered in England, UK (Charity Number 1174142), whose formal constitution, dated 9 May 2017, describes the wider scope and objects of the Trust as follows:
“The objects of the CIO are for the advancement of environmental protection and improvement, including preservation and conservation of the natural environment and the promotion of sustainable development, in particular for the protection of swallowtail and birdwing butterflies and other Lepidoptera, by means including but not restricted to education, scientific research, preservation, improvement and creation of habitat, captive breeding and sustainable management in the UK and worldwide.”