Butterfly enthusiasts from various places were given an orientation on butterflies, their life cycle and the need for their conservation besides a host of other aspects at a programme here on Friday.
The orientation organised by the Forest Department was held at Tropical Butterfly Conservatory in Srirangam housing different butterfly species.
A group of college students and public numbering 51 keen on knowing about butterflies enthusiastically took part in the orientation.
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The event started off with a brief introduction to the participants on butterfly anatomy, identification of butterflies based on families, their characters, species recorded at the conservatory.
The participants were thereafter split into three teams and taken on a field visit inside the lush green conservatory sand-witched between the Cauvery and the Coleroon rivers and established on a 25 acre reserve forest area.
A Forest Department official and members of Butterflies of Tamil Nadu Society accompanied the teams during the hour-long “butterfly walk” in the morning hours.
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A department official said the field visit enabled the participants in identifying 35 species of butterflies inside the conservatory established by the Forest Department to create awareness among people on the importance of butterflies and its role in maintaining ecological balance.
This was followed by an interaction among the participants sharing among themselves the butterfly species they had identified during the visit. The official said some participants had even come from far off places like Chennai and Chidambaram.
Later, a presentation was made to the participants inside the amphitheatre at the conservatory on various aspects, including life cycle of butterfly, population of butterfly species in the world, India and in Tamil Nadu, largest and smallest species, threats to butterflies and public initiatives to conserve butterflies, said the official.
Every participant was presented with a certificate for taking part in the orientation which would be conducted on the first day and the 16th day of every month henceforth. The Forest Department has launched this initiative on the World Environment Day recently.