Bhagalpur man develops butterfly garden at home for conserving nature

BHAGALPUR: A nature lover in the town has developed a ‘butterfly garden’ to conserve butterflies. He is also promoting the theme, ‘Give nature a home, grow butterfly gardens and be a life-keeper’ among the nature lovers and environmentalists.
Raja Bose, who has worked for months to develop the butterfly garden, says his concern over the depleting number of butterflies motivated him for this initiative as butterflies are important for plant flowers’ pollination for fruits.
Bose said pollination is one ecological service that butterflies provide and about 90% of the flowering plants and 35% of the crops rely on pollination for production of fruits/grains. His objective is not only aimed at conservation of different varieties of colourful butterflies but also for maintaining ecological balance and conserving nature besides promoting better fruit/grain production.
Bose said his butterfly garden on his sprawling campus has become a habitat for various lepidopterans, including butterflies, skippers, moths etc that are helpful in creating a natural harmony at his home garden. At present he has recorded more than two dozens of butterfly varieties, including plain tiger, common mormon, gull, lime swallowtail, evening brown, janeta, blue morpho, summer azure etc.
Environmentalist Deepak Jha said butterflies are on the verge of getting extinct due to massive use of pesticides and chemicals in farms and even gardens. “Now the people are motivated towards creating rooftop and terrace gardens and also going for organic farming. Bhagalpur and adjoining regions have vast farmland areas and wetland besides government wasteland where the state government, local administration along with forest department officials and nature activists can jointly develop ‘butterfly park and sanctuary’,” he said.