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Days with butterflies
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"The idea of butterfly gardens was started to instil interest in conservation. This scheme, which was successful in the schools, was given an impetus through frequent camps in the reserve forests to make students more Nature-friendly."
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Watching and studying butterflies, their habits as well as identifying new species... all these turned out to be a different experience for the students of two schools in the city and for those from a school near Palode. They were participants of a `Butterfly Camp' organised jointly by the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment, Bangalore (ATREE) and the city-based group of nature lovers, `Warblers and Waders'.
For the 50 students from the Loyola School, Sreekaryam, Chempaka and the Palode Paluvalli Upper Primary School, their experience in the butterfly gardening project in their schools turned out to be of great help.
Sharing the experiences of the observations made in the garden was a main aspect in the camp. The students of the Paluvally UPS had an advantage as they could watch several rare butterflies, since their school is located near the reserve forest areas. The camp was organised as part of the butterfly gardening project carried out in some schools by the ATREE and Warblers and Waders.
The camp members were also able to sight some rare butterfly species such as the Fluffy Tit, Aberrant Oak blue, Blackveined Sergeant and the Ceylon Ace. Yet another attraction was `ant watching' under the guidance of Merry Zacharias of ATREE, for studying about the life of ants as well as to watch spiders mimicking ants and also to see the life of some spiders that resemble ants.
"The idea of butterfly gardens was started to instil interest in conservation. This scheme, which was successful in the schools, was given an impetus through frequent camps in the reserve forests to make students more friendly towards Nature," says C. Susanth of the Warblers and Waders.
The Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment which had successfully carried out the Butterfly gardening programme in some schools in the city with the assistance of the Warblers and Waders is planning to implement this scheme in more schools in the coming years following the success of this programme.
"The progress achieved by the students in their attitude towards nature conservation is a welcome sign at a time when the world is dogged by ecological problems. It's through these students that we have to implement programmes for nature conservation," says R. Priyadarsan of ATREE.
By Hari Sundar G
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Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
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