Defra is committed to delivering legally binding biodiversity targets including halting the decline in species abundance by 2030, reversing declines by at least 10% by 2042 compared with 2030, and reducing risk of national species extinction by 2042. The composite indicator we use to measure progress towards our species abundance targets includes over 400 moth species.

The Environmental Improvement Plan sets out actions we are taking to deliver these targets, including delivering a refreshed Pollinator Action Plan, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-improvement-plan-2025/environmental-improvement-plan-eip-2025 which will set out key actions for pollinators, including moths, in England.

Natural England is working with partners such as Butterly Conservation to take specific action for threatened moth species, including specific grazing and cutting regimes in chalk grassland areas for Black-Veined and Straw Belle moths in Kent, and translocations such as the Rosy Marsh moth in Cumbria.

Dessert and culinary apples play an important role in local economies, with the sector worth a combined £188 million in 2023.

The Government is committed to championing British farming and, in partnership with the sector, we are considering a number of ways to achieve our ambitious, measurable and long-term goals for the sector, including development of new crop varieties that are more resistant to pests such as ermine moths.

The number of moth infestations reported in each of the last three years is as follows:

2021 – 27
2022 – 44
2023 – 61

All moth related monitoring and required subsequent treatments are included in the annual contract fee with our pest control expert. This is inclusive of any number of visits, monitoring devices, additional treatments, preventative maintenance visits or reactive responses that may be needed to treat a problem. As such, no additional costs are incurred.

It is not possible to calculate how many devices have been installed in each of the last three years. However, a total of 982 monitoring devices have been installed during a permanent moth prevention programme which has been running since 2008.

The current number of devices installed is 751. This current count is subject to constant fluctuation.

The number of moth infestations reported in each of the last three years is as follows:

2021 – 27
2022 – 44
2023 – 61

All moth related monitoring and required subsequent treatments are included in the annual contract fee with our pest control expert. This is inclusive of any number of visits, monitoring devices, additional treatments, preventative maintenance visits or reactive responses that may be needed to treat a problem. As such, no additional costs are incurred.

It is not possible to calculate how many devices have been installed in each of the last three years. However, a total of 982 monitoring devices have been installed during a permanent moth prevention programme which has been running since 2008.

The current number of devices installed is 751. This current count is subject to constant fluctuation.

The number of moth infestations reported in each of the last three years is as follows:

2021 – 27
2022 – 44
2023 – 61

All moth related monitoring and required subsequent treatments are included in the annual contract fee with our pest control expert. This is inclusive of any number of visits, monitoring devices, additional treatments, preventative maintenance visits or reactive responses that may be needed to treat a problem. As such, no additional costs are incurred.

It is not possible to calculate how many devices have been installed in each of the last three years. However, a total of 982 monitoring devices have been installed during a permanent moth prevention programme which has been running since 2008.

The current number of devices installed is 751. This current count is subject to constant fluctuation.

Protecting insects is a priority, and we are taking action to support them and the wider natural environment of which they are a vital component. Our commitment to setting a legally binding target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 underlines our ambition.

Defra has published or contributed to a range of national and global assessments of the pressures on insects and wider biodiversity, including on the impacts of artificial light. We welcome recently published research on the impacts of sodium and LED lighting on the local abundance and distribution of caterpillars. We will continue to work closely with researchers, NGOs and across the Government to improve our understanding of the impacts of light pollution.

The Government is taking action to ensure that light pollution is managed for wildlife and for people, through controls in the planning system, the statutory nuisance regime and improvements in street lighting.

To preserve natural habitats the Government is taking action to protect our best wildlife sites, expand habitat for insects in the wider countryside and support partnerships working on targeted habitat restoration and species recovery.

Over one million hectares of our best habitats for wildlife on land and in our freshwater and coastal areas are conserved through our protected sites designations.

Outside the protected sites series we are managing land to create new wildlife-rich habitat. Since 2011, over 130,000 ha in England have been set aside for this purpose. In 2015, we introduced new and simple agri-environment ‘packages’ to make it easier for farmers to provide flower rich margins or pollen and nectar plots on fields to support wild pollinators.

Natural England, our statutory nature conservation adviser, continues to work with a range of landowning and NGO partners to support the recovery of threatened insect species by managing and creating habitats for threatened species such as the barberry carpet moth, the short-haired bumblebee and chequered skipper butterfly.

In addition to preserving habitats, the Government is taking action to reduce threats to pollinators. We are supporting science-led restrictions on neonicotinoids so we can protect bees and other pollinators. We also continue to tackle threats from invasive species, such as the Asian hornet, and protect honey bees from pests and diseases through a nationwide team of bee inspectors.

Protecting our country from pests and diseases is important for our economy, the environment and our health and we will continue to monitor the situation and work with farmers to limit the damage to our valuable crops sector.

Diamondback moths migrate to the UK every summer. While the number observed this year was particularly high, a range of control methods is available for farmers to protect their crops, including through application of the pesticide Benevia 10OD. The Government issued an emergency authorisation for the use of this pesticide to combat the moth earlier this year.

Diamondback moths migrate to the UK every year. While the number observed this year is particularly high, there has been no significant damage reported in crops and a number of effective pesticides are available for farmers.

Protecting our country from pests and diseases is important for our economy, the environment and our health. We will continue to monitor the situation and work with farmers to limit the damage to our valuable crops sector.

Our National Pollinator Strategy highlights the vital contribution we can all make to support pollinators by ensuring they have suitable food and habitats.

The Strategy includes actions to improve the status of our insect pollinators, of which there are 1500 species in the UK. Many of the actions aim to reverse the loss of flower-rich habitat, one of the biggest sources of pollinator decline in England. Habitat creation actions in the Strategy also benefit other animals, including birds and bats.

All pesticides, including neonicotinoids, are strictly regulated and are only authorised if scientific assessment finds that their use is not expected to have harmful effects on human health or to have unacceptable effects on the environment.

The UK Government's approach to wildlife conservation is set out in Biodiversity 2020, our strategy for England's wildlife and ecosystem services. As part of this strategy we are implementing a range of measures and initiatives that will benefit moths:

Two ‘candidate’ Special Areas of Conservation supporting Fisher's estuarine moth, a European Protected Species, have recently been submitted to the European Commission.

142 moth species are listed on section 41 (s.41) of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006) as species of principal importance. Natural England is funding work on 36 of these species through its Species Recovery Programme.

6.1 million hectares of England's farmland is currently managed under Entry Level Environmental Stewardship (and 1.4 m ha under the Higher Level), providing habitat for an estimated one third of all s.41 moth species.

We have made £7.5 million available for 12 new Nature Improvement Areas to deliver landscape scale habitat restoration, several of which include specific measures to help moths and events to record them.

Finally, the proposed National Pollinator Strategy will consider the requirements of all pollinating insects.

Data from the “Rothamsted light traps” shows that there has been a change in the abundance of moths in Great Britain over the last 40 years. A greater number of species show significant declines than show significant increases.

We do not fully understand the reasons for this change but we do know that semi-natural habitat loss and degradation is a threat to many species. We have supported research to understand how to manage habitats for moths better, for example in key woodland habitats. In addition, Natural England has initiated a review of the status of groups of invertebrates in England, including moths, to identify those at greatest threat. It is expected that this work will take three years to complete.

Data from the “Rothamsted light traps” shows that there has been a change in the abundance of moths in Great Britain over the last 40 years. A greater number of species show significant declines than show significant increases.

We do not fully understand the reasons for this change but we do know that semi-natural habitat loss and degradation is a threat to many species. We have supported research to understand how to manage habitats for moths better, for example in key woodland habitats. In addition, Natural England has initiated a review of the status of groups of invertebrates in England, including moths, to identify those at greatest threat. It is expected that this work will take three years to complete.

Butterfly and moth populations fluctuate naturally in response to environmental conditions and provided that there is sufficient good quality habitat, numbers can recover remarkably quickly from the effect of bad weather.

The Government are supporting the work of Butterfly Conservation, which is working to restore habitat for our most threatened species and has launched its annual survey of butterflies. Last year's report of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme concluded that while the numbers of most widespread butterfly species are comparatively stable, almost half of the more specialised butterflies (those species associated with more specialised habitats such as chalk grassland and flower-rich meadows) are declining. We also know that moth numbers have fallen by a third over the past 40 years. Despite this, agri-environment schemes and other habitat restoration works are having a positive effect and there are some notable signs of recovery for some of these more specialist butterfly species, such as the heath fritillary and the reintroduced large blue. The causes of moth decline are less well understood, but we have been supporting research to better understand how to manage woodland habitats for moths.

We will continue to build on these successful examples, working in partnership with Butterfly Conservation and others in the voluntary sector, to design or deliver targeted conservation action, informed by monitoring and research.