Need to conserve butterflies stressed

Rajamahendravaram: Divisional forest officer (wildlife) of Rajamahendravaram Anantha Shankar underlined the need to conserve butterflies which help balancing the eco system. Participating in a two-day meet on butterflies which concluded on Satarday at Maredumilli in Agency, Anantha Shankar said that the programme was aimed to protect the existing flora and fauna of Eastern Ghats.

For conservation of species, proper identification and documentation is needed, along with creating awareness on wildlife protections as well as conservations, he said. This butterfly meet is an initiative taken by wildlife wing, which helps conservation of butterflies, he said and added that in India, there were 1,318 butterfly varieties and most of them still need to be studied further. In the two-day meet, the experts identified 60 varieties of butterflies and 30 species of moths.

The DFO said some species of Himalayan moths were identified in Papikonda National Park which was never documented in Eastern Ghats. He underlined the need to carry further research on butterflies and noted that the workshop was held on butterflies in the state for the first-time.

The meet was organised by wildlife wing in association with EGREE in collaboration with Butterfly Research Centre of Bhimtal in Uttarakhand state. Peter Smetacek from Butterfly Research Centre, Dr J R B Alfred from Zooligical Survey of India and delegates from Kerala, Lucknow, Kanpur, Kolkata and Karnataka took part in the meeting.