A family activity to educate about butterflies and their conservation – My Backyard Garden
Passion. Passion can drive us to undertake projects to climb mountains, rescue people and save wildlife. It’s not every day you meet someone driven purely by a passion of love. Raymond has a passion for helping butterflies and now retired has taken that passion even further and created a family activity just an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur.
Arriving at My Backyard Garden, your eyes are assaulted by the colours of the flowers and the many butterflies taking flight between them. A beaming smile welcomes me and we sit to chat about the new family activity in Sungai Pelek. Raymond first started becoming interested in butterflies at age 4 when his uncle showed him how to make butterflies open their wings when being prepared for framing.
Conservation and Education
This passion led him to work on conservation projects across Malaysia, helping to develop Butterfly exhibits and breeding programmes. Educating people on the lifecycles and importance of protecting butterflies. Now retired, Raymond and his partner have converted their home into a paradise for butterflies. Since January they opened up to the public so everyone can learn about butterflies and the nature of Malaysia.
Children can learn about the life cycle and see it from caterpillars, to pupae and onwards to fully grown butterflies. They can also set one free or take home a pupae to watch the butterfly come out and release in their backyard.
Project Butterfly
But this isn’t the end of Raymond’s passion. He also has a love of budgerigars and has an enclosure devoted to breeding and you can also have a chance to enjoy one up close. The budgerigar is so tame you can have a picture with them as well. Perfect for the Instagram!
In the next stage, Raymond explains, ‘Next is Project Butterfly and to turn the village into a paradise for butterflies.’ I believe him. But why stop there you can do the same in your home, village and town. There is information to help anyone who wants to create their garden devoted to butterflies.
Why not combine it with a kayaking tour and double the education?
Here at Outdoorgate, we have an opportunity for family bonding and an educational experience to show how important the mangroves are to our ecosystem. Join us for a kayaking tour through the mangroves and along the Sepang River. You can even make a weekend of it and stay at our floating house.
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