Discover all about 100 species of butterflies in Pondicherry through contests, training sessions and walks ; vote for the National Butterfly in an all-India poll
Butterflies. Who doesn’t like watching these colourful beauties flitting about in the sunshine ? Butterflies are associated with change, happiness and so much more but they also play an important role in preserving our ecosystem.
Did you know India is home to over 1400 diverse species of butterflies? Creating awareness on these species and their ecological importance is the main objective of the Big Butterfly Month , a festival happening across India from September 1- 30.
Butterfly Spotting in Pondicherry
Pondicherry Nature and Wildlife Forum is one of the 60 organisations in India organising local and regional events- mostly requiring online participation- as part of the Big Butterfly Month festival. The forum has been organising online training and knowledge sharing sessions for butterfly enthusiasts and students from schools and colleges.
The Butterfly Club, a part of the Pondicherry Nature and Wildlife Forum, is conducting photography, videography, poetry writing and painting competitions to increase interest among Pondicherrians in the butterflies around them.
Participate in the Pondicherry Butterfly Photo Contest
The club, which has over 30 members, documents butterflies, birds, dragonflies and flowers through weekly nature and photography walks.
“Till now we have spotted over 100 species of butterflies in Pondicherry. A small team of experts will be going to Bahour Lake and Ousteri Lake for a week to conduct a butterfly survey this month. We are hoping to discover more species 0r even stumble upon new and undiscovered species.” Gandhi Shankar, Pondicherry butterfly club member
Once this survey is completed, the data is uploaded on websites like ifoundbutterflies.org, indiabiodiversity.org and inaturalist.org. Researchers from Bombay Natural History Society and National Centre for Biological Sciences pick up this data contributed by enthusiasts and study it.
Vote for India’s National Butterfly
While these surveys are bound to help researchers gain more knowledge about local species, they are also being done to help select a national butterfly for the first time in a poll conducted by the National Butterfly Campaign Consortium.
Seven butterfly species have been shortlisted by experts based on various criteria. The vote for the National Butterfly is open to everyone. Among the seven, a species called the Indian Jezebel is found commonly in Pondicherry. You can vote for the butterfly of your choice here before polling closes on October 7.
Contact the Pondicherry Butterfly Club
Contact Gandhi Sankar: 87787 49940
Pondicherry Nature & Wildlife Forum can be reached on facebook here & instagram here
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1 Comment
Deepika October 15, 2020 at 11:35 AM
Sir is there any government buses allowed like from chennai to pondicherry? Or any trains ? Is prtc available