6 July 2025
They say never work with children or animals, but Wildlife Queensland’s Projects Manager, Matt Cecil, believes there’s no better combination. During two recent visits to Sherwood Kindy, Matt joined eager young green thumbs to plant more than 50 birdwing butterfly vines, the larval food plant for the stunning Richmond birdwing butterfly (Ornithoptera richmondia).
Growing a future for the Richmond birdwing
These workshops, in partnership with the Richmond Birdwing Conservation Network (RBCN), provided children with a hands-on conservation experience. Kids learnt about the butterfly’s remarkable life cycle and took part in planting and caring for vines around their kindy grounds. Wildlife Queensland provided top-quality soil, mulch, stakes and other planting supplies to give the vines the best start possible.
Taking butterfly recovery home
The excitement didn’t stop at the kindy fence. Each child received their very own birdwing butterfly vine to plant at home, helping to expand vital habitat across the butterfly’s former range. By planting these larval host plants, communities can support the recovery of this threatened Queensland icon and encourage its return to urban green spaces.
Sherwood Kindy educators and children were full of enthusiasm, treating Matt to thank-you cards, artwork, and big smiles for his efforts. While their participation is helping to revegetate lost habitat, the return of the Richmond birdwing butterfly to the kindy garden will depend on the connectivity of suitable habitats in the surrounding area. The more vines planted across the landscape, the better the chance of creating corridors that support this butterfly’s movement and breeding. By engaging in this project, the kindy community is contributing to a broader conservation effort aimed at restoring the Richmond birdwing’s natural range.
Matt shared his appreciation for the experience:
“It was a joy to work with the kids at Sherwood Kindy. Their enthusiasm was infectious, and receiving their handmade gifts and artwork was truly heartwarming. It’s moments like these that remind me why I do this work.”
A butterfly under threat
The Richmond birdwing butterfly is the largest subtropical butterfly in Australia. Once found throughout the region from Maryborough in Queensland to Grafton in New South Wales, its numbers have dropped significantly since the 1920s due to habitat loss and fragmentation, mainly from rainforest clearing and urban expansion. The species is now classified as vulnerable in Queensland under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.
A major threat to the butterfly is the invasive Dutchman’s pipe vine (Aristolochia elegans), which is toxic to its larvae. Female butterflies often mistakenly lay eggs on this vine, causing the caterpillars to die. Removing this invasive species and replacing it with the native birdwing butterfly vine (Aristolochia praevenosa) is vital for the butterfly’s survival.
How to get involved
Wildlife Queensland and the Richmond Birdwing Conservation Network are eager to support more schools and communities in their efforts to recover the birdwing. If you’d like to be part of the butterfly’s comeback, visit the Richmond Birdwing Conservation Network projects page on our website to find out more.
- We need your birdwing vine seeds! Please contact us here if you have any.
- Purchase birdwing vines from our online shop.
- Learn more about the Richmond Birdwing Conservation Network.
- Join our RBCN Facebook group.
- Cultivate and care for Birdwing Butterfly vines
- Subscribe to our eBulletin Talking Wildlife to learn more about your local wildlife, plus Wildlife Queensland’s latest news and offers.