Mumbaikars enjoy a butterfly garden trail in the city

With over 75 varieties of trees and also a

butterfly garden

with over 1000 nectar and host plants in this patch alone, the Aarey

Butterfly

Garden in

Goregaon East

once barren land, today attracts about 300 to 400 butterflies... almost 80 varieties of them in all! The garden developed by Sandeep Athalye and his family, has great significance since Athalye developed the garden in memory of his father, Vinay Athalye, an avid environmentalist and over the years, the family has planted over 5500 saplings and trees in Aarey.

Butterflies are plant pollinators and also control the population of small insects by consuming them. In most countries, the presence or absence of butterflies is an indicator of how healthy the ecosystem is. Recently Goregaon Highway Pulse (GHP Mumbai) a hyper-local community platform, organised a visit to this garden. GHP Mumbai is and portal.

The visit included a scenic tour of the butterfly garden and a plantation drive and was a good outing for parents and their kids to bond over nature, explore the value of nature conservation together and devote a Sunday morning to a good cause.