Video "butterfly project vanessa" (german)

Video-Translation:

Welcome to the butterfly meadow in the Danube Park, Vienna. I am Marion Jaros from the Vienna Ombuds-Office for Environmental Protection. Together with the Vienna Parks and Gardens and the Department for Environmental Protection, we have created an insect paradise.

14,000 m² of blooming meadows with two ponds, with old tree trunks, insect hotels, sandy areas and dry stone walls have led to a five-fold increase in butterfly species from 5 to 45 species.

Seven out of ten strictly protected butterflies of Vienna roam on our meadow in the middle of a park, near the city center and the underground station.

Here frogs are croaking and newts are hunting for water fleas and dragonflies. More than a hundred species of wild bees frolic in this meadow.

This is the perfect location for our Vanessa butterfly project, where roughly a thousand children encounter Vienna's biodiversity every year through our workshops. Guided by our team the children are allowed to carefully capture, identify and release small organisms.

As a special highlight, I breed 20 of the most beautiful butterfly species in Vienna. In the workshops, the children are allowed to handle Vienna's most beautiful caterpillars and butterflies. We see that touching these little animals also touches them. Here they experience exciting and happy moments, which they will never forget. The scientific monitoring showed, that the children still can remember the lessons learned during the workshops weeks after. Their wish to protect butterflies in their environment persists. These findings show, that we can anchor the commitment for nature conservation in the hearts of children by experience.