Urban Dragonfly Farms
The “Urban Dragonfly Farms” is a partial submission for a student project at ISU. The project is oriented towards the LA+Creature design competition—the third in the LA+ international series—asks whether we can live with animals in new ways, whether we can transcend the dualism of decimation on the one hand and protection on the other, and how we can use design to open our cities, our landscapes, and our minds to a more symbiotic existence with other creatures.
The design, propose to conserve and revitalize the habitat of endangered dragonflies in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka, and at the same time, engage the issue of flooding, mosquito crisis, and agriculture pesticide contaminants. The area was a rich wetland and a breeding ground for many wetland species, including the dragonflies. Unplanned development, eradicated or converted many of the wetlands into rice fields, thus reducing dragonfly habitats, disrupting the food chain, and tragically increasing mosquitos as well as flooding lowlands. This, sequentially, increased mosquito-related diseases, mainly dengue fever, and other insects/pests harmful to agriculture. The use of inorganic pesticides causes to contaminate the reaming wetlands. Eventually, this causes to reduce dragonflies and food quality.
First, the project identifies strategic locations to revitalize the malfunctioned wetlands and conserve them, then it converts adjacent rice fields back to wetlands. As importantly, the new policies to stop ongoing wetland fillings and promote pesticide-free farming will be instituted through legislation. Consequently, dragonfly larvae will control the mosquito population, and adult dragonflies will control mosquitos and agricultural pests.
Finally, a self-sustained “wetland farm”, a series of different ponds on the edge of the existing residential area, will weave through the agricultural fields. The ponds will act as a system for controlling the immediate contamination. A system of boardwalks will bring people from the road and neighborhoods through the fields to the wetland and provide recreational facilities. A visitor overlook will be built close to the southern entrance to the site and also act as an insect museum, research station, and conference area dedicated to the interrelationship of environmental and health issues. The project will create more income opportunities for urban farmers by selling agricultural products. To promote this framing method a handbook will be shared among the framers and an online selling platform will introduce to those who use dragonflies as a natural pest controller.
