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Bring back the butterflies

Our BRING BACK THE BUTTERFLIES CAMPAIGN is a local effort to help people bring large numbers of butterflies back into our landscape. It is a call for each one of us to modify our gardens in an effort to reverse the ongoing destruction of local butterfly habitats.

 

Like a pebble dropped into a pond, each new butterfly garden will send the ripples out further and further.  Ripples of butterflies expanding outwards from your home, from my home, from all our homes – creating The Butterfly Effect.

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Through your help, our whole country will benefit, and the ripples will also go out to other countries to put a smile on the faces of the poorest of the poor.

The butterfly effect

The Butterfly Effect is well known – when a butterfly flaps its wings somewhere, the effect is felt around the world.  It is always felt in a small way, but sometimes it can bring about big changes. 

 

By planting butterfly-attracting plants and by visiting Bribie Island Butterfly House you are having a positive effect on lives in less developed countries. 100% of our profits go directly to improving the lives of the poorest of the poor.

 

The ripple effect of your involvement will contribute towards a positive butterfly effect that will reach around the world.  It is a beautiful way to help make a better and fairer world. 

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The flap of a butterfly’s wings in your garden will improve a family’s life in Africa.

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Peter Macqueen – Horticulture Teacher

Where have the butterflies gone?

Almost all adults agree that there were a lot more butterflies around when they were kids.  Why have they gone?

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Here are some thoughts on why we should Bring Back the Butterflies.

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The diversity and abundance of butterflies have declined in recent times.  Loss of butterfly habitat, in particular the loss of the caterpillars' food plants is largely to blame.

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There are many reasons why we need butterflies. Some of these reasons are ethical, some are environmental, and some are merely selfish! 

 

Everyone's garden was once a native forest, shrub land, or grassland of some sort.  These areas would have been home to many different types of butterflies, as well as the food plants that the caterpillars feed on.

 

We should feel morally obliged to plant at least some native plants in our gardens that are food for caterpillars, to replace some of the plants that once lived there naturally.  

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Additionally, we shouldn't spray the caterpillars that live in our gardens - they don't eat much, and they will turn into beautiful adults!  By providing food plants for caterpillars, and providing nectar plants for adult butterflies to feed on, we will assist in maintaining the world's biological diversity.

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We don't often think of butterflies and caterpillars as food for other animals.  However, wasps, spiders, and other animals feed on some of the butterflies, caterpillars, and their eggs.

 

Butterflies contribute an environmental service by acting as food for some creatures, and also of course by pollinating flowers. 

 

If we were merely selfish, and did not care for the environment, then we should want more butterflies simply for aesthetic reasons. They are beautiful to observe, and the more you can have flying around your home, the better!

 

Please help to Bring Back the Butterflies.

 

Alisha Steward       

Vice-President, Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club

Why grow butterfly plants in your backyard?

The more I’ve been involved with nature through gardening in recent years, the more I’ve realised there is a small part I can play in the grand scheme of things (the butterfly effect).

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I can help bring back more of those magical ‘flying flowers’ that have enchanted me ever since I was a child.  Better yet, I can have fun doing it! There are many other pollination processes but perhaps none as remarkable, magical and completely natural as that of the butterfly.

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Aesthetically they add beauty, fascination and magic to our world. Our environment has undergone plenty of negative changes. 

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How can you help?  One of the most fulfilling things you can do is to create a unique butterfly garden of your own. Chemical pesticides are totally taboo for use in butterfly gardens. The use of these chemicals will further deplete the butterfly population, as they will kill the caterpillars in the process. 

 

Always remember – no caterpillars, no butterflies! 

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Naomi Mathews

The benefits of butterflies

Butterfly caterpillars are not pests.  They grow up to turn into beautiful butterflies. Butterflies that are colourful add beauty to any garden. Everyone loves butterflies - from children to grandparents.

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1. Butterflies help in the pollination of other plants – including wildflowers and crops.

2. The larvae of some butterflies eat harmful insects.

3. Butterflies may attract beneficial insects that help 

    control garden pests.

4. Butterflies attract birds which add more beauty to

    your garden, and also help control harmful insects.

 

Phil Hartnett

Ray Archer

Butterflies bring peace

The butterfly will help with pollination of the flowers and through the presence of the flowers, and the butterflies themselves, add beauty to your garden.  Butterflies also bring peace.  Stopping for a few minutes to watch the butterflies sipping nectar and flying gives us a sense of peace in our turbulent world. 

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Bringing Back the Butterflies is something that I’m really enjoying.  They don’t pee on you or poo on you or yell at you or bite you - they just bring a lot of peace! 

You too can enjoy them.

 

Ray Archer

President – Bribie Butterfly Volunteers Inc. 

 

We hope this project will also help to bring back the ‘butterflies in your stomach’ from:

  • Purchasing a ticket to visit the Bribie Island Butterfly House and knowing you are a partner in a great cause

  • Purchasing butterfly-attracting plants for your garden 

  • Knowing that you are helping the little creatures of our world

  • The nice feelings of doing good for humanity as you volunteer and buy plants and become a partner in a worthy cause

  • Bonding with your kids as you plant the shrubs and enjoy the butterflies together

  • Beautiful butterflies rekindling the old flame of romance in your life and in the lives of those close to you

  • Donating dollars that will make a huge difference in poor people’s lives

  • Knowing that you are bringing back the butterflies in the lives of the desperately poor of this world

  • Telling us about your feelings, comments and ideas to help this great cause move forward

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