Butterfly survey shines light on lake preservation efforts

Rithu Dravid | NT

Bengaluru: A recent butterfly survey was conducted at the Dorekere lake, Uttarahalli, in the city recently.

The survey had 20 participants including children from the local community around the lake, student volunteers, conservationists, nature lovers and many others.

To aid butterfly conservation, experts from the Action Aid Association and Eco Edu collectively organised a phase wise survey on butterflies, trees, shrubs and birds at the lake.

The concerned citizens, mostly school going children and college students participated in the survey by studying various butterfly species and their habitats.

Furthermore, the lakes have been adorned with native butterfly host plants essential for breeding and nurturing caterpillars and pupae. However, the survey aimed to study the butterfly population around the lake.

As a nature enthusiast from Bengaluru, Ullas Anand, CoFounder, Eco Edu, says “Creating awareness campaigns and surveys around lakes will help delve deeper into the understanding of butterflies and their surrounding environments. This will also help to provide quality environment education to the community. It is also emphasising on the significance of preserving and restoring natural ecosystems in a rapidly developing city”.

During the survey, the nature enthusiast described butterflies and their characteristics, differences between moths and butterflies. He further explained the developmental process of a butterfly to the participants at the lake.

“Basically, we want the local community to take part in the survey and participate in the conservation of the lake. By this way we can save many lakes in the city. We need wild vegetation to promote butterfly habitation and not conservatoires like spaces, adds Ullas Anand This has caught the attention of many students in uncovering the diversity of lake ecosystems.

“I visited the lake around 6 am and spotted 22 varieties of butterflies. I spent three hours at the lake observing butterflies and trying to spot more each time. I always make note of all that I see at the lake and pen it down in my journal. Among the identified species I liked the Grass Yellow, Wanderer and the blues. I also saw spiders and birds which fascinated me. I saw them on the bushes and small plants exclaiming Arjith Krishna, age 8, studying at a private school in the city. The Action Aid Association, Project Lead, Raghavendra B Pachhapur, highlighted on saving the water body and the natural vegetation around it.

“So far, we have identified 22 species around the lake, in a day over just three hours. It is an activity that actively brings the local community together and educates themselves through experiential learning”.

However, a detailed biodiversity report would be presented at the end of the year and submitted to the BBMP and Karnataka Biodiversity Board which would include species of birds, trees, plants, butterflies and spiders that exist in and around the lake. It would also include suggestions to improve the habitat features.