The iconic English broadcaster, presenter, naturalist, and the president of the Butterfly Conservation charity, Sir David Attenborough has an interesting request for his countrymen- to spot the butterflies and day-flying moths for the world’s biggest butterfly count.

The job can be done in just 15 minutes in your garden. All that’s needed to be done is to click the beautiful pictures of the butterflies and submit them online. Sounds fun right?

You don’t have to be a professional wildlife photographer to take snaps of butterflies. The phone camera will do. Submit them here haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

The activity will not only allow to take you to experience nature around you but will also help in butterfly conservation. Last 40 years have seen a continuous decline in the butterfly species. The weather conditions this year in the UK have been extremely favourable for the insects. However, if the climate gets too hot it could result in a drought and could be catastrophic for caterpillars due to lack of food.

The chequered skipper, the purple emperor, the Adonis blue and heath fritillary are some of the species that are threatened by the warm climate.

butterflies
Sir David Attenborough.

“Please take part in the Big Butterfly Count this summer. We need to know now, more than ever before just what is happening to butterflies in our towns, in our gardens and in our countryside. Your records can help us gather vital information that may help protect them in the future,” Sir David said. “A cause for great concern over recent years is that many of our once common and widespread species like the Large White, Small Copper and Gatekeeper have started to struggle, mirroring the declines of rarer species.”

The exercise will also help you keep in touch with nature and relieve stress and anxiety. Afterall, natural fresh air is the best remedy to cure depression. Moreover, with a thousand things going on in daily life, hardly we get any time to sit in the garden.

“I have been privileged to have witnessed some truly breathtaking wildlife spectacles in far-flung locations but some of my most memorable experiences have happened when I’ve been simply sitting and watching the wildlife that lives where I do,” Sir David said.

“A few precious moments spent watching a stunning Red Admiral or Peacock butterfly feeding amongst the flowers in my garden never fails to bring me great pleasure,” he added.