We frequently receive queries as to what you—as a citizen and a non-specialist—can do to help Odonata of India citizen science project or odonate conservation in general. Below are some ideas.

If you are not an experienced butterfly-watcher yet but if you have a decent DSLR camera, then contributing your images and other observations to this website is one of the most effective things that you can do to help the growth of butterfly biology, education and conservation. We will be launching a mobile app in late 2020. You could use that to start monitoring butterflies in your area, which has tremendous conservation and research value. Please follow the Facebook page of Odonata of India to get regular updates and for further news on the app when it is launched. you can also join DragonflySouthAsia Facebook group, which is a community of Odonate enthusiasts and experts.

If you are part of a group such as an NGO that could organize any activities, then you could conduct outreach programmes in local schools and colleges, take people on dragonfly-watching trails, and spread the message of odonate conservation. You could also try to work with city officials (e.g., those who are in charge of either public parks or forest lands) to create or maintain odonate-friendly habitats such as ponds and lakes, or preserving parts of rivers. 

If you are a specialist in some ways: a civil engineer, a forest officer, member of a nature NGO, then email us, we can suggest some more things that you can do to help odonate conservation, education and outreach.

Everyone can do more, but you can at least start with one of the above suggestions.