Dagupan’s first butterfly garden opens

DAGUPAN CITY — This city’s first butterfly garden, located in an enclosed material recovery facility (MRF) in Brangay IV, has opened for Dagupeños to see and later to become a source of livelihood.

Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez, who thought of butterfly-raising as an income-generating project of the barangay, said that the Department of Agriculture‘s (DA) regional office in San Fernando, La Union has delivered 30 adult butterflies and 70 larvae to the facility.

The tree nymph (Idea leucono) and eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina) compose the first batch of butterflies that were released in Dagupan City’s first butterfly garden. The acquisition of the butterfly species was funded by a financial grant from the Vice Mayor’s office.

"I think we’re off to a good start," Fernandez said as he watched the butterflies flutter around the netted enclosure of Barangay IV’s material recovery facility.

The idea of putting up a butterfly garden was hatched during the barangay MRF’s inauguration two months ago.

"The butterfly garden will not only serve as an added city attraction but as another source of income for the barangay," he added.

Barangay IV is located in the city’s downtown area and within its jurisdiction are several big business establishments.

Fernandez noted that butterflies are now used for weddings and other occasions and the butterfly business has prospered in Metro Manila. The MRF, which was erected on a paved narrow alley right at the back of the University of Luzon, boasts of a greenhouse where organically grown ornamental and vegetable plants are on display and ready for transplanting to nearby plots.

"When I saw it, I knew that the greenhouse was ideal for a butterfly garden," Fernandez said.

In a meeting with DA Regional Director Nestor Domenden, the vice mayor also sought technical support for the butterfly garden project.

Fernandez said that the second batch of delivery will include 300 butterflies and larvae consisting of six species, namely: citrus butterfly (Papilio de moleus), plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus), bird wing (Troidus radamantus), mottled emigrant (Catopsilia pirante), lemon emigrant (Catopsilia pomona), and orange emigrant (Catopsilia scylla).