The Butterfly effect, when small actions can contribute generating great changes
In a tiny little village (no it is not the village of An early Christmas Carol), up on the green hills in Friuli Venezia Giulia, there were (and still there are) many – but really many ,many, butterflies.
You can see butterflies everywhere, on the wall of the houses, in the streets and in their own house. The butterfly house is so big, three big apartments with trees, plants, water (it is a bit humid in there) and butterflies flying everywhere or resting on some flowers. Before arriving in their apartments the butterflies travelled for a long time, they crossed the Ocean but they were babies and they can’t remember their long journey. They know only the tiny little village on the green hills and they are happy like that.
It was too obvious to describe the three greenhouses and the butterflies and I have chosen to begin with a short story to tell the real beautiful story of “La Casa delle Farfalle” in Bordano.
“The House of Butterflies” was established in 2003, it is an eco-museum and is the largest in Italy. The three greenhouses host three different eco systems the African jungle, the Asian and Australian rainforests, and the Amazon. The most peculiar aspect I have discovered when visiting “la Casa” is the project “The Bosque Nuevo”. Bosque Nuevo is a butterfly farm located in Costa Rica. Their project is innovative: by selling “baby butterflies” (pupae) they aim to buy cultivated land and to re-convert it into native forest.
The butterfly farms have created an alternative economy, replacing when possible cattle-breeding or cultivation that are among the causes of forest destruction.
The little town of Bordano
The little town of Bordano has its own story and it connects past events and this new approach to economy. Bordano was affected by an earthquake in 1976. It was almost completely rebuilt by 1983, now there are around 700 people living there. Butterflies are an important presence thanks to a very special microclimate
In 1996 the Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia started a project, which included street art for the artistic-cultural and naturalistic enhancement of the place. And… its focus was… guess what… butterflies!
It really seems that the Butterfly Effect has come true. The flapping of the wings of a butterfly has generated very large effects from one side of the ocean to the other
English version already published in Local Guides Connect