Pan-India online event on butterflies in September

Panaji: Over 30 organisations in India, working in the field of biodiversity conservation, have come together to host a national event on various aspects related to butterflies starting September 5, one of its organisers said on Saturday.

During the event named ‘Big Butterfly Month: India 2020’, which will continue till September 20, various activities like online workshops on butterflies, photography and videography contests and butterfly count, will be held, he said.

“Butterfly experts, enthusiasts and organisations across the country are joining hands for this first of its kind event in India,” said Parag Rangnekar, president of Goa-based Foundation for Environment Research and Conservation (FERC), which is the coordinating the programme, said.

“As part of this event, activities like butterfly count, online workshops on butterflies, contests on butterfly photography and videography, will be held across India,” he added.

Rangnekar said, “More than 30 organisations working in the field of biodiversity and its conservation have come together to organise this event.” These include the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Dehradun-based Titli Trust.

“The ‘Big Butterfly Count’ would be held on an all- India level from September 14 to 20, wherein participants would be encouraged to send their submissions to our well- established citizen science digital platforms- Butterflies of India, iNaturalist, and India Biodiversity Portal,” he said.

Through the event, people would be educated and sensitised about butterflies, he added. Participants are expected to send information and other material related to the butterfly species that they spot in their backyard, Rangnekar said.