Big Butterfly Month

Big Butterfly Month began as a simple idea: what if thousands of people across India stepped out at the same time to notice butterflies?

What followed has been far more powerful than a campaign. It has become a people's movement—bringing together naturalists, students, educators, photographers, families, and first-time observers into a shared act of watching, recording, and caring.

A movement built through collective action

Over the years, Big Butterfly Month has grown through the contributions of many communities and partners:

• 120,000+ participants engaged across India
• 150,000+ butterfly observations contributed
• 550+ species documented across diverse landscapes
• 282+ districts and landscapes covered
• 10,000+ events and butterfly walks led by partners and volunteers

From city parks to village edges, schoolyards to forest fringes, each record, walk, and story has contributed to a growing understanding of India's butterfly diversity.

Why BBM matters now

India's landscapes—especially urban and peri-urban spaces—are changing rapidly. Butterflies, with their close ties to plants, seasons, and microclimates, are among the first to respond.

BBM creates a national moment of attention: a time when people observe seasonal patterns, habitats are noticed and valued, and data is generated at scale across geographies.

It is not just a month. It is a starting point for long-term engagement.

The opportunity with Butterfly Collective India

As part of Butterfly Collective India, BBM has the potential to grow deeper and wider through shared ownership. The collective model can anchor BBM locally through partners in underrepresented regions, expand participation into schools and institutions, strengthen data quality through sustained engagement, and link observation to action—from butterfly watching to habitat creation.

Each partner is not simply a participant, but a co-creator of the movement.

What you can bring

As a member of the collective, you can shape BBM in ways that are meaningful to your context:

• Organise butterfly walks, talks, and local events
• Mobilise schools, colleges, and communities
• Contribute observations to citizen-science platforms
• Create or support butterfly conservation projects
• Share stories, photographs, and local insights

Your landscapes, your people, and your knowledge are central to BBM's growth.

What we have built together

BBM stands today on the strength of collective effort: a nationwide network of contributors and partners, a growing open dataset on butterfly diversity and seasonality, strong engagement from schools and communities, and a culture of curiosity, observation, and care.

This is not the work of one organisation. It is the result of many hands, many eyes, and many stories coming together.

Moving forward

With Butterfly Collective India, BBM enters its next phase—from a successful campaign to a distributed, collaborative platform for change. A platform where local actions contribute to national impact, data informs conservation, and people reconnect with nature in their own spaces.

We invite you to take this forward—as partners, leaders, and co-builders. Because when more people notice butterflies, we do not just learn about nature. We begin to care for it, together.