A butterfly garden is a rare attraction, for the simple reason that it is difficult to create and maintain the various types of habitats for the winged wonders.It is generally accepted that establishment of butterfly gardens helps maximise butterfly diversity and abundance in urban and suburban areas. Public participation in creating a butterfly garden also helps to conserve rare and endangered species and p romote environmental education, according to George Mathew and Mary Anto, Division of Forest Protection, Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Peechi.In a paper published in the August issue of the international journal Current Science, the two scientists explained how the institute had come up with a model butterfly garden that could be replicated elsewhere.The prototype was set up in 0.5 hectares of degraded forest on the KFRI campus to standardise the methodologies for establishing such gardens. Landscaping and introduction of suitable host plants were the major methods employed to create butterfly habitats. The pilot project was able to generate a tremendous increase in the butterfly population with 10,502 sightings of butterflies belonging to 56 species over a period of 30 months.
By regulating humidity and temperature, KFRI could manipulate local populations of butterflies, particularly danaid butterflies. Other species such as Danaidae, Lycaenidae, Papilionidae and Pieridae also developed resident populations in the study area. Habitat preferences of various groups of butterflies were considered while designing the components of the garden.
(The Hindu, 30th August 2007)
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