GUWAHATI, Nov 23 – In keeping with the theme Earth Day 2015, WildRoots with support of Earth Day Network, Washington DC has launched the Green Cities Campaign in the capital city.
The Green Cities Campaign aims to protect the health and wellbeing of the city’s most vulnerable urban population by decreasing climate change emissions and focuses on the potential for new and existing buildings and construction sites to be a major source of carbon reduction and models of efficiency.
Globally, cities are the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Accredited as a Green Builder from the Earth Day Network, Amarjyoti Choudhury has given the city its first ‘Urban Butterfly Garden’, as a part of the Green Cities Campaign.
Executed as a pilot project, the first ‘Urban Butterfly Garden’ of the city has been designed by WildRoots members Manashi Goswami and Sayanti Basak.
“Besides having aesthetic value, butterflies occupy a vital position in our ecosystem. They serve nature as pollinating agents and their presence indicates the health of a terrestrial biotope. Nowadays increased urban features including roads, buildings and industries, correspond with decrease in butterfly species diversity and abundance.
“Amongst all biota, butterflies are very sensitive to habitat modification. Therefore, constructing a butterfly garden is an effort to create a habitat for the butterfly by providing them with food, water and shelter, and help them increase their numbers and also provide them with other spaces to assist them fulfill the other aspects of their life”, said Goswami.
On the other hand, Biswajit De, founder president, WildRoots said that turning an open space into a butterfly garden is an initiative towards conservation of butterflies and a step towards healthy ecosystem.
“Conserving butterflies will also lead to conservation of plants in an ecosystem. Butterfly gardens would also serve as educational benefit as one can gain insight into the life cycle and behaviour of butterflies.
“We have started small and we hope to do more. We are thankful to EDN for their support in the projects and encourage other organizations, builders and realtors to come forward and be a part of our initiative,” said De.
