Journalism of Courage
After being in the greys of a concrete jungle,a colorful dash of yellow,pink or orange flickering near your window or wandering around your plants may seem like much-needed relief. The butterfly is one of the prettiest residents of the fauna kingdom. Their colours and patterns mesmerise the mind and leave one spellbound. But like many animals and plants,the butterflies are reducing in numbers in both urban areas and jungle areas,due to poaching,habitat loss and lack of flora compatibility. Trekdi is an organisation that organises treks and camps to promote butterfly conservation. Butterflies are insects and people rate them very low,hence the status of existence of many a butterfly species is not known, laments Pinakin Karve,director of Trekdi.
To help with butterfly restoration and conservation,a Butterfly Camp is being organised in Pune by Trekdi at the CDSA campus near Chandni Chowk on May 7 and 8. The camp will cover theory courses to improve the know-how of people regarding butterflies and take them for a short trek near the Sinhagad valley to show them different kinds of butterflies that exist in their natural habitats. The concept of butterfly parks would be explained and a short brief on butterfly taxonomy & classification,life cycle,habits & habitats of butterflies,butterfly photography,individual & group efforts for butterfly conservation would be provided.
Dwindling urban diversity of butterflies is a matter that asks to be looked into seriously. Steps need to be taken to make people aware about how their actions lead to habitat destruction of butterflies. The rapid change of land patterns has led to a quick decline in the numbers of butterflies across urban lands. An area that used to be a river bed is now a road,a dense park is now a housing society; all these changes are taking their toll on the butterfly population by shifting them to alien habitats, says Karve.
The pattern of distribution of butterflies depends on the availability of their food plants. The use of foreign plants in our gardens and homes is hence quite taxing for the butterfly as it deprives them of foliage,nectar and pollen as food. Use of Taiwan grass instead of the local grass of the region,Chinese bamboo,different kinds of palms,nursery-developed orchids,and so on,provide a harsh environment to the butterfly even in a garden. Use of nursery grown plants and especially flowers,deprives the butterflies of nectar and hence the use of indigenous flowering trees and plants should be promoted for restoration of the butterflies, explains Karve.
