Way back in 2018, I put a proposal and plan together for Nick Covarr, who was working for Forestry England (FE) at the time, aiming to restore the rapidly declining Friston Gallops chalk grassland site, much beloved by butterfly enthusiasts. Due to the costs and logistical challenges involved, I never thought it would happen. As many will know, the northern parts of this site used to be great for butterflies and moths, most famously hosting a gigantic population explosion of Chalk Hill Blue in 2012. However, the effects of the RHDV2 virus had a devastating impact on the Rabbit, which was entirely responsible for keeping the sward in good condition. The site started to gradually decline from around 2014, before this accelerated around 2020, after which it became swamped in coarse grasses and scrub. The delicate chalk grassland flora was lost, along with the habitat specialist butterflies - by 2023 it was difficult to find more than a handful of Chalk Hill Blues over the entire site. In 2021, before moving on to become a lecturer at Harper Adams University, Nick got in touch to say that the project was going ahead, later to become the Friston Gallops Butterfly Project - part of FE's excellent Friston Forest Management Plan 2024-2034. Since 2023, I've been working very closely with FE and partners to restore the entire site, with a key player being local farmer/grazier Stephen Carr, who has been brilliant in getting the right animals in the right place, at the right time, across the three large and one small fenced grazing compartments (Units A, B, C and D, running from south to north); this is the first time the site has been livestock grazed for at least 60 years, and is critical in the current absence of the Rabbit, which I hope will recover in time. I don't recall ever working on a project where the communications and cooperation have been quite this good - and now we are beginning to see the benefits. It's important to note that this project will eventually restore good quality chalk grassland over the entire site (more than 25 hectares are now being grazed), rather than just the once-good northern end; this is nature recovery on a huge scale. We are still in the 'restoration phase' of the project, and there is still some way to go (particularly in Unit D), before we move to the 'maintenance phase' at some point in the future. However, the speed and extent of chalk grassland restoration is simply phenomenal, as reflected both by butterflies and moths, and within the flora (there has been some reseeding and mechanical scrub management). Bear in mind that my appended image of the flora in Unit A shows an area that was carpeted in waist-high coarse grasses, with just sparse Wild Carrot showing, just a few years back. Although butterfly numbers are only just starting to build, the results of my surveys give cause for celebration, and provide just a hint of what's still to come. On 27.4.26, I recorded 289 butterflies of 15 species, with the highlights being Grizzled Skipper (24), Dingy Skipper (107), Small Copper (93), Green Hairstreak (9), Small Heath (4) and Wall (1). On 23.7.26, I recorded 2508 butterflies of 21 species, with the highlights being Common Blue (847), Chalk Hill Blue (390), Adonis Blue (8 - they're back!), Brown Argus (92), Small Heath (197), Dingy Skipper (21 - second brood), Wall (2), Small Copper (8), Dark Green Fritillary (2), Painted Lady (80) and Clouded Yellow (7). Over the two surveys, the best of the moths included Lace Border (20), Sulphur Pearl (2) and Clouded Buff (3). I'm confident that within just a few more years, these numbers will be dwarfed. This is all fantastic news for Friston Gallops, for the Seven Sisters National Nature Reserve, for the South Downs National Park and, most importantly, for Nature. The best area for butterflies is currently the southern and eastern flanks of Unit A, at the opposite end of the site to the historically best northern end. Please don't enter Unit B, where the cattle are currently working their magic. Congratulations to FE and all participants in this project, which should give us all hope that things can be so much better than they often are.