Reviving butterflies in Delhi: Project on to create links via urban clusters for habitat connect

What is the News?

Bombay Natural History Society(BNHS) has started working on a project to build butterfly corridors to revive the diminishing species in New Delhi.

Butterfly Habitats Project in Delhi

Started by: The Bombay Natural History Society(BNHS) in 2018.

Aim: The project is focused on creating butterfly habitats and planting host plants for the free movement of butterflies.

Why Butterfly habitats? As the major green patches in Delhi are disconnected due to a number of urban clusters, the BNHS is working on providing communicable routes to the butterflies through several micro-habitats.

For instance, Asola and Jahanpanah forests are the major green patches but between them lies the urban clusters. To overcome the problem, BNHS is creating butterfly habitats in these clusters through public initiatives.

What is the significance of Butterflies in the ecosystem?

Important Part of Ecosystem/food chain: Butterflies are an important component of a food chain, as predators and prey.Adult butterflies and caterpillars are an important source of food for other animals such as bats and birds. Along with nectar, butterflies eat a variety of plants.

Cross-Pollination: Apart from flies and bees, butterflies play an important role in pollination.

Important Indicators: Nearly 90% of the world’s butterfly species are found in the tropics, and their extreme sensitivity to climate change makes them good indicators of environmental health.

Source: This post is based on the article “Reviving butterflies in Delhi: Project on to create links via urban clusters for habitat connect ” published in TOI on 5th April 2022.