ALTHOUGH there are few statistics to prove it, many country folk feel that there are far fewer butterflies in our fields and gardens these days. And that could be much more serious than just the loss of a source of wonderment and beauty, tragic though that may be.

The Government has realised that the health of our wildlife is a key "indicator" to the general health of the environment.

So, with the help of various conservation bodies and local authorities, it has laid out certain "biodiversity" targets to find out what has gone wrong in recent years - and, hopefully, ways of putting things right.

So meet Ian Court, the butterfly man of the Yorkshire Dales, who is keenly interested in the fate of our butterflies - and of our peregrine falcons, otters, bats, and even our native fresh-water crayfish too. Ian is the species officer of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, whose job is to keep track of all these creatures (and many more) as part of the park's local biodiversity programmes.

This summer, as the national park celebrates its 50th anniversary, Ian is particularly concerned about butterflies. And to help him do the job he has been asked to do, he needs the general public's help and the keen eyes of schoolchildren or gardeners in particular.

"I think most people feel that butterflies are not as common as they used to be," Ian explained in his office at the national park's Grassington HQ. "But one of the problems is that there are very few records of just how numerous they were and which species thrived in the Dales a few decades ago.

"People have been keeping records of bird populations for generations. Fishermen have kept records of catches over the years and many naturalists and field sports people recorded sightings of mammals like the otter.

"But this sort of historical detail about butterflies in the Dales is lacking. And if we don't know how many there are, or what species live in which part of the Dales, it is difficult to prove accurately whether their numbers are improving or are still in decline.

"That's why we are trying to enlist the aid of schools and people who spend a lot of time outdoors - like gardeners or keen walkers - to jot down the species they see when and where they have seen them."

Ian, 33, looks distinctly uncomfortable in office surroundings - and, indeed, is difficult to nail down to an office appointment. He was wearing the sturdy outdoor clothing of a man who thrives in the open air, hail of shine - and in this he has achieved the ambition he developed as a lad in Cononley.

He was in fact born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, but his father's job in the civil service moved the family to Yorkshire when Ian was seven. In the Aire Valley, encouraged by a grandfather who was a keen birdwatcher, the boy developed a keen interest in ornithology.

The problem was that, after schooling in the village and at South Craven, he found it difficult to find a job which would keep him out in the fresh air for most of the working day.

"At that time, there were very few courses on conservation or countryside management," he recalls. "I did all sorts of outdoor jobs like fencing or drystone walling but they were sporadic - I would end up back in an office somewhere."

He says that with an expression that suggests he would rather have been in jail. But Craven College was to come to the rescue when it launched a course in upland resource management.

Ian leapt at the chance, got his BTech qualifications, and was offered a summer job with the national park. He has been there ever since and, five years ago, was appointed species officer, which entails a great deal more than simply roaming the fells and the valleys looking for bird or beast ... or butterfly.

Personally, I heartily dislike words like "biodiversity" because they smack of jargon. It is as if the people involved in conservation work have, like lawyers and doctors, invented their own language so as to baffle or exclude ordinary folk.

But Ian Court explains it directly: "It might seem complicated but it is in fact quite simple. When we look at biodiversity, we are looking at the way the entire habitat blends together to produce and provide a system in which plants, birds, mammals, insects or fish can thrive.

"The butterflies are a good example because, at present, we do not know enough about them. We need to know which species live on the top of the fells and those that live on the valley floor.

"We want to know which plants they feed on and where they lay their eggs. This will tell us what plants are important which, in turn, tells us about which plants live on different soils. All these things fit together. And if the butterflies are healthy and their numbers are growing, the whole environment is healthy. If the opposite is happening, something is going wrong and we want to find ways of putting that right."

o The summer's butterfly census is being jointly conducted by the national park, English Nature and the Butterfly Conservation. A pamphlet showing all the butterflies of the Yorkshire Dales is available free from national park offices and information centres. Anyone keen to help the census can contact Ian Court on 01756-752748 or email ian.court@yorkshiredales.org.uk