Butterflies – conspicuous by their absence!

When you start to observe things, sometimes it’s what you don’t see that stands out. So what I’m not seeing in North Burnaby – are butterflies. This has been brought into sharp contrast for me by my observations during our times in Tucson, Arizona, where this photo was taken.

The butterflies there are numerous and easily seen. Here they are conspicuous by their absence. This is important when you learn that caterpillars make up more than 80% of the diet of most baby birds.

This illustrates the critical importance of a healthy biodiverse environment. Last year, there was a 60% reduction in the count of butterflies in Metro Vancouver over the previous year. This is according to Professor Michelle Tseng of UBC’s botany and zoology departments.

So we need to wake up to the disastrous combination of destructive forces that have drastically degraded biodiversity in our area, going back for more than a century.

First, the original ecosystems were systematically and relentlessly removed for logging, housing, industry and human activity. We don’t really know what we lost, because much of it was already gone when we were born. It hasn’t stopped.

Second, a devastating onslaught on the insect world has resulted in near mass extinction of trillions of insects. Those insects feed amphibians, birds, fish, reptiles and mammals. They pollinate our native plants. It’s time to declare a truce in the war against insects. Insecticides and herbicides, and habitat destruction, have all contributed to our current state. Life on earth would collapse without insects.

In order to miss something, it has to have existed at some point in your memory. We are in danger of our children and grandchildren growing up in a world without observable nature.

So keep your eye open for butterflies, you probably won’t see many. That’s a problem. It’s time you did something about it…