About Us
Dr Jyoti Heblekar is a medical practitioner in Homoeopathy . She has varied interests from gardening , animals , educational sector to wholistic healing. Promotor and owner of the Mystic Woods . She is the recipient of the Goa State Biodiversity Appreciation Award for the year 2022 for her work in field of endemic plants and butterfly conservation
Yashodan Heblekar is an General Insurance professional . An avid birder and expert on butterflies , he dabbles in wildlife art in his spare time. He helps run the Mystic Woods on weekends
Tanmaye Heblekar is an aerospace professional . During his breaks , he reconnects at the Mystic Woods to his passion for snakes and wildlife photography.
Shrusti Heblekar is a student with penchant for graphic art . Her work involves intricate mandala inspired wall art and warli murals. She lends an artistic perspective to Mystic Woods
The fountainhead
Butterfly Conservatory of Goa
is a NGO founded by the Heblekars. The belief is that every conservation effort begins with the smallest step and in nature the restoration of a jungle from a degradation is initiated by Butterflies.
Each butterfly specie has a close association to specific plants on which they lay eggs on and the larvae feeds only on that plant. Quite a lot of these larval host plants are endemic weeds . In any forest clearing , the weeds are first to grow. Left to itself they wouldn't allow anything else to grow, but the butterfly larvae eat it all out and at the same time excrete rich manure. They also themselves are a protein meal for wasps,spiders,birds, etc . The birds bring seeds of the secondary forest trees in theri droppings as they scour for the butterfly larvae. And thus begins the process of regenerating the forest. An example of that is our Mystic Woods