Ramsai Butterfly Conservatory: An effort for the conservation of butterflies adjacent to a tropical forest in West Bengal, India

Abstract

Recently, major efforts have been seen toward conservation of insects as potential taxa for understanding changing habitats and the survival of many other organisms, including humans. One of the most widely appreciated and studied groups of insects is the butterflies, which has prompted scientists and conservationists to develop unique strategies to conserve these organisms. The creation of habitats with plants preferred by the local butterfly population has given rise to “butterfly gardens”, which has become a popular concept throughout the world. We conducted this study in one of the first established butterfly gardens in the vicinity of a forest patch in northern West Bengal, India. We generated a preliminary database of visitor and reared butterfly species, documented early stages of the butterflies, categorized the roles of different plants in the garden and observed butterfly abundance and diversity in the garden. We also briefly discuss the benefits of these butterfly gardens as refuges for butterflies, as an education center which can focus on bottom-up conservation initiatives, and some of the hurdles that are generally faced by these gardens in a sensitive zone such as a forest fringe in a biodiversity-rich country.