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Paisatges Vius

Irene Figueroa of Paisatges Vius collects grass and wildflower seeds from a meadow at Pardines in Catalonia. To compensate the landowner for mowing late enough to allow seed collection, she provided him twelve bales of hay from another meadow.

A dense carpet of ferns grows on land that, until it was abandoned 15 years ago, was a meadow roamed by the large blue and other butterflies, near the Montseny massif north of Barcelona. Paistges Vius is trying to restore the site.

In a "butterfly micro-reserve" in Catalonia, a large blue (Phengaris arion) draws nectar from wild thyme. The reserve is managed in agreement with the landowner by Paisatges Vius. It's also preserving habitat for a related butterfly, the mountain Alcon blue (Phengaris alcon).

In the Pyrenees north of Barcelona, a wildflower meadow that attracts butterflies is emerging on 10 acres of abandoned farm fields. The meadow was created by a nonprofit called Paisatges Vius, which collected the seeds from other meadows nearby.