Tuesday, October 11th is the monthly chapter meeting for Florida-Broward County, featuring speaker Paddy Cunningham, Landscaping for Butterflies and Birds. It’s held at the UF-IFAS Broward County Extension Education Conference Room, 3245 College Ave., Davie, FL 33314 from 6:30pm-8:30pm.
Musician to Serve as Butterfly Association Spokesperson
Singer-Songwriter, Meredith Jones is teaming up with the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) to build awareness of butterfly conservation needs. Founded in 1992, NABA is a non-profit organization that promotes public enjoyment and stewardship of butterflies. Jones will help spread the word about NABA’s work and communicate the importance of butterflies as indicators of environmental change. Butterflies are sensitive to impacts from development, pesticides and a shifting climate. They are the proverbial “canary in the coal mine” for the health of ecosystems and respond to stressors faster than other animals. Butterflies act as an early warning system for degradation in addition to being major pollinators for a variety of plants.
During her upcoming tour, Meredith will share her passion for nature with audiences and highlight the enjoyment butterflies bring to her life. Also, a social media campaign is planned. Inspired by environmental causes, Jones understands the significance of pollution and other factors on people’s lives. Butterflies are a great way to introduce a new generation to the outdoors and raise the profile of wildlife viewing. Gardening for butterflies is therapeutic and can educate both urban and rural residents about larger issues. Habitat loss is the primary reason for declining butterfly populations. It is common for a butterfly species to rely on a specific host plant as the food source for its caterpillars. If the plant is gone, the butterfly is unable to reproduce.
Prairie species are rapidly declining due to historic and modern conversion of native grasslands. In the news, indiscriminate spraying to control mosquitos is killing butterflies along with bees in The South. Expanding knowledge about the role disease plays in butterfly management is of increasing importance. Of course, the status of the Monarch has been receiving a great deal of attention in recent years.
“Raising awareness about the environmental significance of butterflies is a priority for NABA and is a cause that deeply resonates with me.”
-Meredith Jones
To learn more about Jones’ music and her commitment to conservation visit her Facebook page or follow along on Twitter and Instagram.
The North American Butterfly Association (NABA) is a 501 c(3) non-profit entity headquartered in Morristown, NJ. The organization’s largest project is the National Butterfly Center in Mission, TX. Through an active Chapter system and engaged membership, NABA works locally to promote on-the-ground conservation work and institutes policy initiatives to further its mission. For more information visit http://www.naba.org. Connect with us on social media @NABAButterfly.
(Sierra Sulphur photographed by our President, Jeffrey Glassberg in Yosemite National Park, Tuolumne County, California)
http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/story/147202684759ym26jj10w
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NABA, the largest single organization dedicated to the study and enjoyment of wild butterflies, is announcing the opportunity for butterfly enthusiasts at colleges and universities to establish Student Chapters. Institutions of higher learning foster environmental stewardship in the next generation, enhance butterfly research and work to engage communities on and off-campus. By partnering with students and their faculty sponsors, NABA intends to extend the reach of its mission and interface with today’s (and future) natural resources leaders.
Student Chapters will be integral to increasing butterfly counts across the continent, hosting field trips and inviting guest speakers to campuses across Canada, Mexico and the United States. These activities will highlight the conservation needs of butterflies in the face of intensified land use and other population threats. Creating and maintaining quality pollinator habitat will be an important undertaking for the new Student Chapters. NABA’s immense 30-year data set for butterfly populations will serve as unprecedented material to be analyzed through student projects.
Student Chapter meetings will be open to the public to improve the collaborative nature of gatherings. Membership benefits include access to NABA publications: American Butterflies & Butterfly Gardener. Students will be exposed to networking opportunities which will result in on-the-job training in butterfly identification, study design, survey techniques, data management and learning host plants necessary to complete butterfly life cycles.
Those interested in forming a Student Chapter should contact NABA’s Chapter Liaison, Laura Bianco at bianco@naba.org to receive sample bylaws and other information. The North American Butterfly Association (NABA) is a 501 c(3) non-profit entity headquartered in Morristown, NJ. The organization’s largest project is the National Butterfly Center in Mission, TX. Through an active Chapter system and engaged membership, NABA works locally to promote on-the-ground conservation work and institutes policy initiatives to further its mission. For more information visit http://www.naba.org. Connect with us on social media @NABAButterfly.
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