Richmond Birdwing Butterflies Doing Their Bit for the Future of Their Species

The Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Ornithoptera richmondia is one of the largest and most beautiful native butterflies in Australia. The female has an impressive wingspan of up to 15 centimetres, the male has brilliant green and black wings and bright red splash on its thorax.

They live in subtropical rainforest where their larval host plants grow. But this rainforest habitat has been extensively cleared, with less than 1% remaining. As a result, the butterfly is struggling to survive.

The Richmond Birdwing Butterfly is threatened by climate change, loss of habitat, and a rogue vine that poisons the larvae. In addition, its larval host plant, the Birdwing Vine, has become extinct from two-thirds of its original range, threatening the butterfly further.

In a concerted effort to bring back the Birdwing Butterfly, CSIRO have funded the planting of the Birdwing Vine in Grafton; and the Richmond Birdwing Conservation Network and concerned gardeners have been planting the Vine in Queensland.

Wild Birdwing Vine Climbing Up and Around a Ficus

In our local surrounds, Rainforest Rescue has launched a new project to create a local population of the Birdwing Vine to encourage the return of the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly to this region. To do this, we have partnered with butterfly experts from the Richmond Birdwing Conservation Network. Together we are putting on a Community Workshop on Sunday 13 March at Byron Community College in Mullumbimby.

Butterfly experts will teach you about the fascinating life history of the beautiful Birdwing butterfly; introduce you to the Birdwing Vine and rogue look-alike plants; show you how to grow Birdwing vines for gardens and in revegetation; and teach how to record and map butterfly habitats and sightings. The workshop includes free morning tea and a light lunch, a comprehensive information booklet, and a Birdwing Vine to get you started.

The workshop will be held at the Byron Community College (corner of Gordon and Burringbar Streets, Mullumbimby) on Sunday 13 March, from 9am – 4pm. There is a $10 booking fee. Bookings are essential, please call the college on 02 6684 3374.

The vision of Rainforest Rescue is to establish many hundreds of Birdwing Vines in northern New South Wales to provide a food source for the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly’s larvae and ensure the return of the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly to this area.

We hope to see you at the Birdwing Workshop on Sunday 13 March.

To celebrate, the Byron Yoga Centre is expanding and from February 23rd will be opening a second studio at 6 Byron Street, just above Centrelink.  This studio will serve as the ‘charity arm’ for the yoga centre, offering a varied timetable of $5 and $8 classes.  The proceeds of the classes will be donated to The Buttery, a treatment centre for those seeking recovery from addiction, and Rainforest Rescue, which raises money to buy back rainforests in Australia as well as Indonesia and Ecuador.

All of the usual weekly timetabled classes and teacher training courses will continue at studio 1, at Border St, Belongil.

Founder and Director of Byron Yoga Centre, John Ogilvie, got his start in yoga during the 1980s, apprenticing with Diane Currie at the former Action School of Yoga and with Jenny Groves at Byron Bay, before starting his own school in 1988.

Ogilvie’s gratitude for the techniques and philosophy of yoga in helping him overcome his drug addiction is evident in the Centre’s charitable giving and their close involvement with The Buttery drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre, where Ogilvie is a board member. The Centre offers free weekly classes to The Buttery and Ogilvie has encouraged several Buttery ex-residents to pursue careers in yoga teaching and teacher training at his Centre.

“Yoga is a lot about giving and receiving,” says Ogilvie. “We only keep what we have by giving it away which is one of the main motivations for teaching and training others to teach. I believe that if more people did yoga, they would naturally feel more respect for the sanctity of human life. There would be greater tolerance, less conflict and more understanding and empathy.”

For more information you can visit www.byronyoga.com or call 66 858 327.

Further information and photos:
Ana Davis, Byron Yoga Centre, Marketing
Tel: 0413 996 439  E: ana@byronyoga.com