Community Resources and Partnerships/India General Support Project/Wiki Loves Butterfly - Phase VIII /Final Report
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Part 1: Understanding your work
[edit]Per the recent update on the Wikimedia Foundation Affiliates Strategy process, Wikimedia Affiliates that are General Support Project applicants will fulfill their affiliate reporting requirements through their final project report.
If you are a Wikimedia Affiliate, you will use this form for your affiliate reporting and to address the affiliate health criteria. You do not need to submit a separate report to AffCom. Follow the guidance to report on how you met the corresponding affiliate health criteria.
If you are not a Wikimedia Affiliate, aligning your responses with the affiliate criteria is optional and not required.
1. Please share to what extent your programs, approaches, and strategies contributed to addressing the challenges you shared in your proposal. If they did not contribute as you believed they would, please share what obstacles you faced and what, if anything, you learned from them? (required)
For affiliates, use this space (Question 1.) to address Affiliate Health Criterion 1.1 (Goal delivery). Describe how you actively delivered on mission goals, e.g. content creation.
The 8th phase of the Wiki Loves Butterfly program focused on field documentation, mass awareness initiatives with college students and school outreach activities. During this phase, extensive field engagement was carried out across the northeastern and eastern regions of India and Bhutan.
During this phase 46 field documentation programmes were successfully conducted, covering 63 districts and 101 locations across multiple states and diverse ecological regions. The districts covered are listed below:
- Jharkhand: Jamtara, East Singhbhum, Giridih, Koderma and Dhanbad
- Odisha: Rayagada, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur, Koraput, Dhenkanal and Cuttack
- Meghalaya: East Khasi Hills, West Garo Hills and South Garo Hills
- Arunachal Pradesh: Upper Siang, Lower Subansiri, Shi Yomi, Dibang Valley and Lower Dibang Valley
- Assam: Tinsukia, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Golaghat, Kokrajhar and Kamrup
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In Bhutan, WLB team members conducted field documentation at Chele La Pass, the country’s highest motorable pass, situated at an altitude of 3,988 metres (13,083 feet), as well as at Dochula Pass. Both locations represent high-altitude ecosystems and were selected to document butterfly diversity in challenging mountainous habitats. In addition to these sites, the WLB team carried out field documentation across several districts of Bhutan, including Chukha, Paro, Thimphu and Punakha, thereby significantly expanding the geographic and ecological coverage of the project within the country.
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These field studies resulted in the upload of 4779 images of various butterfly species from these regions by 26 contributors. Among these, 463 images have been recognised as Quality Images, 94 as Valued Images, and 23 as Featured Images on Wikimedia Commons.
Notable discovery
[edit]- The WLB team members Aniruddha Singhamahapatra, Sandip Das and Subhajit Roy successfully photographed two Curetis species in southern West Bengal, India, marking the first-ever recorded sightings of these species in the region. Details:[[1] New addition to the Distribution of two species of Curetis Hübner, 1819 from southern West Bengal, India(Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea, Lycaenidae)]
- Further Reports on rare dragonflies, including the addition of Anisogomphus caudalis Fraser, 1926 and Scalmogomphus bistrigatus (Hagen in Selys, 1854), to the known fauna of West Bengal, India. Details: [[2] Reports on rare dragonfies (Odonata: Gomphidae) with addition of Anisogomphus caudalis Fraser 1926a and Scalmogomphus bistrigatus (Hagen in Selys, 1854) to the fauna of West Bengal state,India]
Awareness and Outreach Initiatives
[edit]The team organized or co-organized ten photowalks as part of the project. Of these, two photowalks were held in West Bengal, while eight were conducted across various districts of Assam, including Jorhat, Guwahati, Biswanath, Sivasagar, Majuli and other locations. These photowalks were organized in collaboration with the Nature Conservation Society and Assam Tourism’s Awesome Assam initiative, contributing to student and public engagement, nature education and biodiversity awareness.
Participants included students from a wide range of institutions, such as North Lakhimpur University, Lakhimpur Girls’ College, Morning Star High School, Dhakuakhana Higher Secondary School, Lakhimpur Telahi Kamalabaria College, Nowboicha Higher Secondary School, University of Science & Technology Meghalaya, Brahmaputra Valley Academy, Chaiduar College and Panigaon Om Prakash Dinodia College.
The programme was further strengthened through collaborations with organizations and community groups including Wild Feathers, NE Narrative, Bihanga Bandhu and the Rainforest Indian.
In addition to field documentation, the team conducted four School Outreach Programmes aimed at fostering early awareness and appreciation of biodiversity among students.
One of the key outreach activities was the Wiki Loves Butterfly (WLB) School Outreach Programme 2025, held at IISER Kolkata in collaboration with the IISER Nature Club, as part of the institute’s 20th Foundation Day celebrations, observed as an Institute Open Day. The event witnessed participation from over 1,000 students representing more than 40 schools, including institutions from Kolkata and neighbouring districts. The WLB outreach stall experienced high footfall throughout the day, with hundreds of students and teachers visiting and actively engaging with the activities. WLB volunteers interacted closely with participants and distributed the butterfly story booklet An Autumn Morning and Tinni’s Secret Friend to school students. In addition, butterfly- and biodiversity-themed booklets were provided to schools, along with species-based stickers and badges, further enhancing student engagement and awareness. An interactive Draw Your Favourite Species activity was also organized at the stall, where students enthusiastically created sketches of butterflies and other species. This activity reflected a strong interest in biodiversity and promoted nature-based learning among young participants.
Another outreach activity under the Wiki Loves Butterfly (WLB) School Outreach Programme 2025 was conducted at Binduidih Primary School, West Bengal. The programme engaged 80 enthusiastic children, whose curiosity and eagerness to learn created a vibrant and interactive learning environment. WLB volunteers guided the students through age-appropriate activities designed to introduce them to butterflies and nature in an engaging manner. As part of this outreach, the children were introduced to a short story titled Sharat er Sokal O Tinnir Gopon Bondhu (An Autumn Morning and Tinni’s Secret Friend), a gentle narrative written by Sandip Das and Ananya Mondal. The story portrays the magical friendship between a young girl and a butterfly, helping students connect emotionally with the concepts of biodiversity, empathy towards living beings and nature conservation.
Apart from these outreach programmes, a session was conducted at Passingdang Secondary School in Dzongu, North Sikkim, with around 140+ participants. Additionally, in 2026, another school outreach programme was held at New Integrated Government School in Bankura, West Bengal, engaging 100 students in collaboration with Nature Mates–Nature Club.
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National-level butterfly meets
[edit]The team also co-organized and participated in four national-level butterfly meets held in Upper Siang District, Shi Yomi District and Lohit District of Arunachal Pradesh, as well as in Chukha District, Bhutan. These events were conducted in collaboration with prominent butterfly organizations from across the Border and the respective regional Forest Departments, fostering knowledge exchange, capacity building and conservation efforts.
Dashboard
[edit]In this phase, we are developing an interactive dashboard to help communicate and connect with local communities, students and researchers: [[3] Wiki Loves Butterfly Dashboard]. The platform is being designed as a centralized space for butterfly-related documentation, outreach and open knowledge sharing.
The dashboard aims to showcase continuously updated data generated through our field documentation programs, outreach activities, photo walks and collaborative biodiversity initiatives conducted across different regions of India and neighboring countries. Through this platform, users will be able to explore project activities, biodiversity records, contributor engagement and other related information in a more accessible and organized manner.
As the project data is continuously growing and being refined, the dashboard remains under active development. New datasets, visualizations and functional improvements are being added regularly to enhance usability, accessibility and user engagement for a wider audience.
Since this is an evolving initiative, additional time will be required to further improve the overall design, visual presentation and technical features of the dashboard so that it becomes more informative, attractive and useful for both the Wikimedia community and the general public.
Articles
[edit]Writing articles on Wikipedia takes time, as we do not have access to all the required books and often face a lack of online resources. In some cases, there are no articles available even on English Wikipedia. Therefore, we search for information from scientific journals available online and use those references to update and improve the Bengali Wikipedia articles. Here the list of articles: [[4]]
2. Is there a plan to build on the key successes you had? If yes, please describe the plan and if no, please share the limitations to do so. For instance, did the activities lead to any new priorities, ideas for activities, or goals for the future? (required)
Seasonality plays a crucial role in the success of butterfly documentation under Wiki Loves Butterfly. as the program is directly dependent on environmental conditions.The pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons are particularly important, as they coincide with peak butterfly emergence, breeding activity and high species diversity.
However, changing climatic conditions can significantly influence documentation outcomes. For instance, the south-west monsoon of 2025 (June–September) arrived earlier than usual and was marked by highly irregular and extreme rainfall patterns across many parts of India. Several regions, particularly in the Himalayan states, experienced heavy rainfall, flash floods and accessibility challenges due to multiple western disturbances. These conditions directly impacted our planned field documentation and butterfly photography activities.
In response, the team was affected by excessive rainfall and adapted its approach by temporarily expanding the scope to include moth diversity, documenting several species alongside butterfly records. Field documentation during this period was carried out across Roing, Tiwarigaon, Mayodia, Hunli, Anini, Mathun Valley, Dri Valley and Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh.
These efforts led to the recognition of 39 images as Valued Images on Wikimedia Commons, highlighting the scientific value and documentation quality of the moth records despite challenging field conditions.
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At the same time, the team made a conscious effort to document Odonata species—dragonflies and damselflies—whenever opportunities arose during field visits in West Bengal and Assam. This additional focus led to 8 images being recognized as Valued Images, further contributing to the documentation of lesser-covered insect groups. Open new opportunities of data gap of moth diversity and odonata species in eastern and north east India.
3. Please provide a link to reports that detail the activities that took place in the last year. This can include an annual report, Meta pages, and websites. If there are no links available, briefly describe the implemented activities and programs below or upload any files. (required)
For affiliates, use this space (Question 3.) to address Affiliate Health Criteria 2.1 (Affiliate health & resilience), 4.1 (Internal engagement), 4.2 (Community connection), and 4.3 (Partnerships and collaboration):
- Describe your activities engaging new users, new members for your decision-making body(ies), and developing leaders and organizers (2.1).
- Describe your activities creating or hosting spaces to encourage greater collaboration and engagement among your members (4.1).
- Describe how you engage with the contributing community that you serve and/or support (4.2).
- Describe your partnerships with other affiliates or with non-Wikimedia entities (4.3).
'The relevant links are as follows:
- Wiki Loves Butterfly Meta-wiki page
- Wiki Loves Butterfly image gallery
- Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/Atudu/Wiki Loves Butterfly - Phase VII/Final Report
4. Are you interested in sharing what you achieved or learned this year with the wider community through different peer learning programs (e.g. Let's Connect program, Diff)? (optional)
We always believed that peer learning is a great way to grow while helping others. A poster was also accepted at Wikimania 2025 for presentation to the broader community.
We have published a series of Diff blog posts throughout the year regarding different activities related to Wiki Loves Butterfly. The Diff blog links are as follows:
- [[5] Wiki Loves Butterfly: Expanding the Horizons of Insect Biodiversity Documentation], Author:Ananya Mondal
- [[6] Wiki Loves Butterfly: Community-Led Contributions in Dzongu Valley, North Sikkim, India], Author:Ananya Mondal
- [[7] When Time Slows Down: Documenting Butterflies in the North Eastern Himalayas], Authors: K Subhendu & Ananya Mondal
- [[8] Thrilling Two-Day Butterfly Expedition in Central Odisha], Authors: Sandip Das, Subhajit Roy & Ananya Mondal
- [[9] মধ্য ওড়িশায় দুই দিনের রোমাঞ্চকর প্রজাপতি অভিযান] Authors: Sandip Das, Subhajit Roy, Ananya Mondal & ARI
- [[10] When Butterflies Took Over a Classroom], Authors: K Subhendu & Ankit Goswami
- [[11] A Walk with Butterflies That Healed the Heart], Author: JyotiPN
- [[12] যেদিন শ্রেণীকক্ষে প্রজাপতিরা এসেছিল], Author: K Subhendu, Ankit Goswami & ARI
- [[13] Influence of Seasonal and Eco-climatic Factors on Butterfly Diversity: Insights from Wiki Loves Butterfly], Author:Ananya Mondal
- [[14] From Lens to Knowledge: Citizen Science through Wiki Loves Butterfly], Authors: Ananya Mondal & K Subhendu
- [[15] লেন্স থেকে জ্ঞান: উইকি লাভস বাটারফ্লাই-এর হাত ধরে নাগরিক বিজ্ঞান] Authors: Ananya Mondal, K Subhendu & ARI
5. Did you collect feedback from your community or target groups on how the activities implemented impacted them? If yes, please attach/provide information on the results (e.g. community surveys, stories, impact booklets/reports, interviews with partner institutions, etc). Did you collect other impact-specific data? (required)
For affiliates, the response to Question 5. also partially addresses Affiliate Health Criteria 4.1 (Internal Engagement), 4.2 (Community Connection), or 4.3 (Partnerships & collaboration), where applicable.
In the previous year, we designed informational booklets on the butterflies of Lohit District, Arunachal Pradesh; in this phase, these booklets were distributed among interested participants at the Wakro Butterfly Meet 2025.
Some of our program activities were published by different news media agencies, which are listed below
- Sikkim Express [[16] Exploring Biodiversity: A Butterfly Count in Parakha & Barapathang]
- The Theorist [[17] Wiki Loves Butterfly launches school outreach in Purulia to inspire young conservationists]
- NORTHEAST NOW [[18] Assam: Butterfly Walk records over 70 exotic species in Dullung Reserve Forest]
- THE TIMES OF INDIA [[19] Wonder Wings:Over 70 butterfly species spotted on 1st Dulung Reserve Forest walk]
- The Assam Tribune [[20] Over 70 exotic butterfly species documented in Lakhimpur’s Dulung Reserve Forest]
- Anandabazar [[21] পরিবেশের বদলের কারণে শহরে কমছে প্রজাপতির প্রজাতি বৈচিত্র! রক্ষা করতে আয়োজন কর্মশালার]
- NORTHEAST NOW [[22] Photo story: Unfolding of wings: Assam’s butterfly conservation takes flight]
- Assam Tribune [[23] Behali butterfly walk documents 85 species, raises awareness on conservation]
- Sikkim Express [[24] SIKKIM TO HOST NEXT EDITION OF NORTHEAST BUTTERFLY MEET]
- Sikkim Express [[25] Butterfly Walk in Dzongu showcases Sikkim's year-round butterfly diversity]
6. During the fund period, did your efforts do any of the following? (required):
For affiliates, the response to Question 6. also partially addresses Affiliate Health Criterion 2.2 (Diversity balance).
- 6.1 Bring in participants from the following groups: women, indigenous groups , young people
- 6.2 Develop content about the following underrepresented topics or groups of people: none of the above
- 6.3 Support the retention of: Editors, Organizers, Partnerships
7. What, if any, effective tactics or approaches can you share that worked well when dealing with the programs under points 6.1-6.3 that you selected? (optional)
NA
8. If you developed partnerships, which of the following factors most helped you to build partnerships? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors (optional):
Volunteers from our communities, Partners proactive interest
Part 2: Metrics
[edit]| Metrics name | Target | Result | Comments and tools used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of all participants | 930 | 2621 | * Field work-26
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| Number of all editors | 150 | 601 | |
| Number of new editors | 100 | 575 | |
| Number of retained editors | 35 | 40 | |
| Number of all organizers | 6 | 6 | |
| Number of new organizers | 5 | 3 |
| Wikimedia project | Target - Number of created pages | Target - Number of improved pages | Result - Number of created pages | Result - Number of improved pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 150 | 450 | 34 | 74 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 5000 | 4779 | 500 | |
| Wikidata | 100 | 400 | 50 | 1000 |
| Wiktionary | ||||
| Wikisource | ||||
| Wikimedia Incubator | ||||
| Translatewiki | ||||
| MediaWiki | ||||
| Wikiquote | ||||
| Wikivoyage | ||||
| Wikibooks | ||||
| Wikiversity | ||||
| Wikinews | ||||
| Wikispecies | ||||
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
11. Did you set other quantitative and qualitative targets for your project (other metrics)? (required): Yes
11.1. Other Metrics.
In your application, you outlined some other open metrics that you would like to measure. Please fill out the achieved results for each of the open metrics you defined.
| Other Metrics name | Metrics Description | Target | Result | Tools and comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Photo-walks | 5 | 10 | ||
| Number of field works | 40 | 46 | ||
| Number of School outreach programme | 5 | 4 | ||
| Number of Offline/online meet ups | 6 | 7 | ||
| Number of organizing National meet | 2 | 2 |
Part 3: Skill Development / Capacity Building
[edit]12. Reflecting on your programmatic (external) and organizational (internal) work, did your project support you to undergo any skill development that made a difference to your success? If yes, what skill was developed, and how did it lead to success? (e.g. received coaching on public speaking, attended training on nonviolent communication, hosted professional development conversations on leadership, learned and used a new tool for project management, etc.)? Can you share any materials? (required)
For affiliates, use this space (Question 12.) to address Affiliate Health Criteria 2.2 (Diversity balance) and 3.1 (Diverse, Skilled, and Accountable Leadership):
- Describe actions taken to prioritize gender balance in affiliate leadership, as well as any areas of diversity relevant to your affiliate's context (2.2).
- Describe the management, financial, or other leadership skills of your affiliate leaders. If you have a succession plan, please include it here (3.1).
- Describe any training or skill development (as outlined in the question above) (3.1).
- Incorporate into the annual report a disclosure of conflict of interests (if any) from the leadership (3.1).
Our team members have strengthened their skills across several key areas:
- Macro photography: We had online/offline discussions with experienced butterfly photographers about technicalities and intricate details of macro photography. Photographers in our team also got the opportunity to share internal knowledge with each other around this topic so that the overall skill set of most of the team members would be enhanced.
- Cost-efficient program management: As in previous years, the team adapted to varying conditions to deliver programme outputs in a cost-effective manner. This year’s experiences further improved our ability to plan and execute activities efficiently.
- Community outreach: Our members gather learnings, experience and insight while engaging with people at large, students and butterfly enthusiasts outside the Wikimedia community, gained valuable experience and insights into promoting nature conservation and encouraging digital documentation of biodiversity.
- Partnership building: WLB team members have engaged with different like minded partner organizations, government agencies and individual experts and amateurs on several occasions of this program and have gained insight and experience on how to successfully collaborate and bring impact to the project.
13. What is one capacity/skill area that you would like to focus on for the next year? And how do you plan to achieve this capacity? (required)
The next year’s plan has already been submitted here.
14. If you have additional information or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here. Use the space below to upload any additional documents that would be useful to understand your report.
For affiliates, also use this section (Question 14) to fulfill the Affiliate Health Criteria requirements.
- Describe and link to any public-facing documentation for affiliate governance, including affiliate leadership and membership with a breakdown of the demographics; how elections are conducted; how conflicts of interest are declared; and how decisions are made and communicated (2.2, 2.3, 3.1).
- Describe and link to any public-facing documentation for activities incorporating, promoting awareness about, or enforcing the Universal Code of Conduct in your affiliate's activities (3.3).
- Describe and link to any public-facing documentation for internal membership engagement, such as notes from your regular meetings and how you communicate to or involve your membership (4.1).
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| Grant reports | |||||||||||||
| List of butterflies |
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Part 4: Financial reporting
[edit]For affiliates, also use this section (Part 4: Financial reporting) to address Affiliate Health Criterion 3.2 (Financial & Legal Compliance).
| Description | Planned / received budget for this category (INR) | Amount spent (INR) |
|---|---|---|
| Personnel costs | 1004000 | 1004000 |
| Operational costs | 1905000 | 1905000 |
| Programmatic costs | 2909000 | 2909000 |
| Total General Support Fund | 3500800 | 2909000 |
| Other revenue | ||
| Remaining funds from General Support Fund | N/A |
15. Please state the total amount spent from this fund in Indian Rupees. (required)
2909000 INR
16. Please provide an overview of the amount spent from this fund in the following budget categories in Indian Rupees. (required)
- Operational costs: 1905000 INR
- Programmatic costs: 1004000 INR
- Staff and contractor costs: 2909000 INR
17. Did you have any other revenue sources (e.g. other funding, membership contributions, donations)? (required): No
- 17.1. Provide the total amount received from other revenue sources in Indian Rupees. (required): INR
- 17.2. Provide the total amount spent from other revenue sources in Indian Rupees. (required): INR
18. Provide a financial report document which will provide the details of funds received and spent in Indian Rupees. (required)
We recommend you upload the final financial report that was signed by a registered chartered accountant. The same report that you submitted to the institutional partner.
- Upload Documents, Templates, and Files.
- Report funds received and spent, if template not used.
18.2. If you have not already done so in your financial spending report, provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal. (optional)
N/A
19. Do you have any unspent funds from this project?: No
20. Final confirmations (required)
- 20.1. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement? You must be in compliance with relevant tax laws and regulations restricting the use of the Funds as outlined in the project agreement. In summary, this is to confirm that the funds were used in alignment with the Wikimedia Foundation mission and for charitable/nonprofit/educational purposes.
- Yes
- 20.2. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the project agreement?
- Yes
- 20.3. Are you in compliance with provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), and with relevant tax laws and regulations restricting the use of the Funds as outlined in the project agreement? In summary, this is to confirm that the funds were used in alignment with the WMF mission and for charitable/nonprofit/educational purposes.
- Yes
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