Bathurst ecologist Ray Mjadwesch, along with colleague Simon Nally, co-authored a paper in 2008 on the emergency relocation of a purple copper butterfly [PCB] colony during roadworks near Lithgow in 2004-05.

The paper has since become one of the most popular published articles in the 20-year history of the Ecological Management and Restoration [EMR] journal, assembled by the Ecological Society of Australia.

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Mr Mjadwesch, who has been monitoring and assessing PCB populations around the Central Tablelands since 1997, said he's thrilled by the response to the paper.

"When I first came onto the site, major roadworks had accidentally destroyed a key PCB habitat area, so we worked closely with the NSW Roads and Maritime Services [RMS] and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services to rectify the issue," he said.

"The project was an outstanding success, and it's rare that such awful mistakes like this can be remedied."

Mr Mjadwesch said there around 70 known locations between Bathurst and Lithgow where PCB populations have been found over the last 20 years.

"The PCB species only flies for two months a year [during spring], so there's a very short time period where they can be detected and as the caterpillars are nocturnal, they can be hard to find," he said.

"While PCB populations are abundant at the Winburndale Nature Reserve and around Lithgow, they exist in extremely small groups elsewhere."

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Mr Mjadwesch said the relocation is a unique ecological achievement, as successful recovery and restoration operations for butterfly species are rare.

"Butterflies thankfully attract a great deal of support from local,state and national organisations because they're an iconic Australian species," he said.

"By looking after these habitats, we're preserving these areas for various other species of fauna."

The project involved the concentrated planting of blackthorn plants, supplied by the Lithgow Community Nursery, in order to encourage the butterflies to mate.

Each plant was sprayed with sugar solution to entice male butteflies to mark their territories, attracting the females to lay eggs.

Around 1260 butterfly larvae were relocated to the rehabilitation area over 12 nights and the PCB population has persisted despite an unplanned fire two months ago that destroyed much of the site.

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Mr Mjadwesch commended the efforts of the NSW RMS, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services and various local organisations for their efforts to rectify the issue.

"They didn't hesitate to fully fund our proposals for habitat restoration, translocation and monitoring activities, which allowed us to trial some novel techniques," he said.

"It's very important to communicate ecological issues in a way that doesn't scare people, as threatened species pose zero threat to land owners."

For a summary of Mr Mjadwesch's co-authored paper, click here.