The Dilmah Butterfly Garden; not what it seems

IN 2011 my father inaugurated Sri Lanka's first open ait, urban butterfly garden at our MJF Centre West in Moratuwa, on the outskirts of Colombo. Yesterday it was reopened — an expanded, revitalised Dilmah Butterfly Garden. The assembled environmentalists and nature lovers = including the eminent scientist, Dr. Jagath Gunawardena and Rajika Gamage, the passionate butterfly expert behind the project — joined our Dilmah Conservation Team and me, in inaugurating the space.

- By Dilhan C. Fernando

Moments after opening the facility, it was very clear—while walking through the garden — that this was not only a butterfly garden. In their comments, Dr.Jagath and Rajika explained its ecological value, the importance of butterflies as pollinators, its environmental value, in connecting people with Nature. All true, but those are only part of the reasons for my doubt.

The MJF Centre West receives hundreds of visitors every month; students from nearby Moratuwa University, from schools and other universities, volunteers from Sri Lanka and abroad, the children and youth from the programs at the Centre for people with disability, elders, less fortunate youth and women. Observing the interaction of some of these visitors with the butterflies, their amazement at the complex ecosystem we call Nature, it was obvious that tis garden is something altogether greater than a butterfly garden.