You Will See a Birdwing
You Will See a Birdwing
The project aims to attract more butterflies to stay and live in HKUST by planting more host/larval food plants of butterflies and nectariferous plants. The simplest and effective solution to fulfill the above purposes is to build a Butterfly Garden.
A roadside planter in the central campus is chosen for the Garden. Community members can increase their awareness of nature and relax themselves through visiting the Garden. Ambassadors and volunteers will be recruited to guide the visitors and help manage the Garden and do the butterfly survey.
What is the problem this project is trying to address?
It is difficult to attract more butterflies to come and live on our campus due to the limited number of native plant species found at HKUST. In addition, the emergence of butterflies in areas far from the main campus makes it difficult for the community to access and appreciate them.
There are lack of education facility on campus to introduce the biological environment, no outdoor place for community members to gather and enjoy our nature, and no chance of community involvement or participation.
How does this project support our sustainable smart campus as a living lab vision?
The Garden implements various sustainable and smart measures to save energy and manpower, decrease carbon footprints and minimize the consumption of natural resources. The measures include on-site collection and composting of yard waste, use of recycling wooden materials, collecting rainwater for irrigation, installing wind turbines and solar panels to collect renewable energy, using automatic lights, and installing cameras with motion sensors and using AI for butterfly identification.
The project also falls into the two categories, Landscape and Biodiversity of the University’s 2028 Sustainability Challenge.