Description of the Project: The students embarked on various school trips to enhance their knowledge of the different types of butterflies and endemic plants at Ebony Forest and Ile Aux Aigrettes. Furthermore, they understood the pollination system in more detail after visiting the beehives at Wolmar, which directly linked to the understanding of how butterflies are dependent on specific plant species to thrive. They were also fortunate enough to get to taste the local honey, which was awesome!

We liaised with the National Parks and Conservation Service to obtain endemic plants, which we planted at Clavis to create our Butterfly Garden. We also organised a talk for our students, and those in Years 4 and 5 at Clavis, from the Ministry of Agro Industry & Food Security to share interesting facts on Endemic Plants.

There were 15 students from Clavis, Year 5, who collaborated with the students at LBIS on the project. We then handed the garden over to them to take care of and to ensure that the plants remain healthy and attract butterflies. There was a ceremony organised to give them a Certificate of Participation, to acknowledge their hard work, as well as a pot containing fine herbs as a token of thanks for their brilliant attitude. This took place in the outside classroom that the Clavis Trail Project created during Impacts Week.

There was a lunch organised at La Vanille Crocodile Park, to learn additional facts about butterflies from around the world, to reflect on and wrap up the sessions and to celebrate their accomplishment.

Day 1 Ebony Forest

Day 2 Bee Hives Womar

Day 3 Ile Aux Aigrettes

Day 4 Planting at Clavis and talk from National Parks and Conservation Service

Day 5 La Vanille Crocodile Park

Participants reflections

Monday 30th May:

Today we went to see Ebony forest, we got a guided tour by an employee. We chose Ebony Garden as it is an endemic forest, and we would be able to learn about the species of endemic plants and understand their importance without our Mauritian Ecosystems. When we went through the museum, we were informed of the catastrophic damages caused to the Mauritian ecosystem due to the colonization of the land. It brought around cross breeding and deforestation which in turn led to the extinction of countless species, especially endemic ones. After the museum tour, we had a guided tour of the forest, and we were able to see these endemic plants and butterflies in their natural habitats, we were surprised to see how these birds and butterflies were interacting with us humans, and were somewhat circling us. We happened to see and understand the role of butterflies in pollination but more importantly the importance of endemic plants in attracting butterflies. I think today was a productive day, and I genuinely feel like I learnt heaps about endemic habitats, it truly helped us see the importance of preserving endemic species in Mauritius.

Tuesday 31st May:

Today we went to meet a beekeeper at Wolmar, Flic en Flac. We aimed to meet him in order to understand the importance of bees within habitats and their roles in pollination, but also to learn about how important pollination is for plant species. We were able to understand and see the similarities between butterflies and bees and the respective roles they play in endemic ecosystems. Yesterday we learnt about the importance of the endemic plants themselves and how they attract butterflies, but today we saw how these plants are also dependent on butterflies as main pollinators. I think it helped us learn the importance of pollination, but also about the interdependence of butterflies and endemic species. We also went to the beach to reflect and discuss about our experience so far a a group and I think we had a fruitful discussion and reflection session, overall it was a very fun and fruitful experience.

Wednesday 1st June:

Today we went to Ile Aux Aigrettes. We learnt that Ile Aux Aigrettes is an endemic island which takes conservation very seriously, this island was handled and monitored by the same people who handle La Vanille Crocodile Park. We learnt about the importance of turtle conservation, and how they also play a role in pollination. We were able to see animals like Skinks, and endemic birds. I think that this visit really helped us understand the importance of endemic plants and the extent to which they need to be protected. It really ensured that we understood the reasoning behind our planned planting and the impact we were making on the environment, both our physical and school environment. We were also able to understand how endemic birds rely on trees and the deforestation during the Dutch and British rule led to a depletion of the bird population. The visit was very eye opening and helped us as group understand why we are planting these plants at Clavis.

Thursday 2nd June:

This was the day we planted at Clavis, we first gathered simple gardening tools from Bocage, and a few that some of us brought from home, and made our way to the site we chose for clavis. Prior to the Impact week, we discussed with the group after a bit of research which site would be ideal for the hibiscus plants we were planting, and decided. We then brought about the year 5 class and planted these hibiscus plants with them. We as leaders took charge and organized this aspect, we planted with them and I made sure to speak and connect with my partner, I told her all about our project and the importance of Endemic plants and she was able to relate some of the knowledge back to her science classes. It was a great experience for the kids. After this we then went back to their classes and taught them how to create butterfly origami. It was a creative activity for the Year 5s and as we taught them, we explained the importance of butterflies in pollination. They were extremely happy with the results and were very cooperative students! After this we had a talk from the Ministry, about endemic plants so that the student could realize the impact they made on the environment. Lastly we had our presentation on our project to the Year 5s and they were very enthusiastic, and proactive. We explained to them the places we went and what we learnt (briefly) and why we did our project.

Friday 3rd June:

Due to miscommunication, we had to go to la Vanille crocodile park today (Friday) as opposed to Wednesday. The idea was to learn about the different species of butterflies from the park but we ended up going a bit late, post the planting. Regardless we had a nice visit and were able to learn about the butterflies, beetles and other animals at the park. I think the week overall was pleasant and I truly think that we made an impact on the Clavis kids, but also on our environment, after learning how important it is to plant and conserve endemic species, the planting of these trees was much more meaningful for our group, and I think we did a fantastic job, and I am proud to have helped lead this project!