Butterflies of the Garo Hills (An Old and Rare Book)

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This book covers 320 species of butterflies from the Garo Hills in Meghalaya, northeastern India. The book contains photographs of each of the species, provides key features for identifying them in the field and notes on similar butterfly species to assist in identification. It also contains notes on the butterflies' natural history. Butterfly hotspots in the Garo Hills along with maps of these areas are provided for reference.

The Garo tribe, who call themselves "A.chiks" or "tillers of the land" reside in some of the best forest tracts that remain in Meghalaya. They have always been dependent on forests for their needs. However due to population pressure and changing lifestyle from one of sustenance to income generation, forests are being converted to other land uses. Any initiative that seeks to preserve our forests, thereby conserving our wildlife and its habitat, and ensuring security for our water sources, therefore needs to be commended.

Meghalaya also holds enormous potential for eco-tourism. The book "Butterflies of the Garo Hills" is an excellent effort in not only highlighting Meghalaya's wonderful bio-diversity, but it can be used by the indigenous people to initiate and sustain butterfly tourism and provide them with an incentive to conserve their forests. The Forests and Environment Department, Meghalaya is supporting the publication of this book. I would also like to thank Samrakshan Trust, Titli Trust, Indian Foundation for Butterflies and The India Foundation for their support.

The book covers 320 butterfly species with some excellent photographs. It is a well written book and I am sure that butterfly enthusiasts will enjoy it. I also hope that other people, who are not necessarily butterfly connoisseurs will also be motivated to observe butterflies after reading this book! I would like to congratulate the authors- Sanjay Sondhi, Krushnamegh Kunte, Gaurav Agavekar, Rohan Lovalekar and Kedar Tokekar for writing this lovely book.

I hope that this book will be just the first of a series of books highlighting the diverse bio-diversity of Meghalaya which we hope to bring out in the days to come.