There are experiences that the generations before us took for granted and that are becoming rarer today. One of them is the sight of fireflies on a warm summer night. Fireflies are vanishing from many places in Europe because of light pollution, pesticides and the draining of the wet meadows in which they live.
Fireflies are in fact beetles whose larvae live in the soil and damp grass and feed on snails. The adults glow in June and July to find a mate. They need three things: moisture, the absence of chemicals, and real darkness. Artificial lighting confuses them and interrupts their breeding.
In 2022 Ecopark Vaya set aside a habitat for fireflies – wet meadows on the edge of the ponds that are not mown in summer, are not treated with any chemicals, and remain unlit at night. The site was chosen to be away from the roads and from the lit parts of the ecopark.
Creating such a habitat requires not construction but restraint – not mowing, not lighting, not interfering. For a place that has to be maintained and visited, this is a conscious choice in favour of nature.
The activity was carried out with our own funds and labour. It is part of Ecopark Vaya’s aim to protect not only rare and protected species, but also those inhabitants of nature that make a summer night unforgettable.
Today, on warm nights at the end of June, fireflies once again flicker over the wet meadows of the ecopark. For us it is one of the best signs that we are heading in the right direction.
Project summary
Project: Firefly habitat
Year: 2022
Location: Ecopark Vaya
Activity: setting aside wet meadows with no summer mowing, no chemicals and no night lighting
Funding: own funds and volunteer work
Status: completed
Photo: Rain Wu / Unsplash