Sustainable butterfly farming in tropical developing countries as an opportunity for man and nature-the 'Kawe Amazónica Butterfly Farm' project in Guyana as an example (Insecta: Lepidoptera)

摘要

The "Kawe Amazónica Butterfly Farm" project in Guyana, South America is described with its different phases and is presented as a model for sustainable butterfly farming. Farming and/or exhibiting (tropical) butterflies is a worldwide business. Mostof the butterflies presented to the public are bred in tropical countries while the main facilities of exhibition are located in Europe (where the first butterfly exhibition faciUties were opened in the United Kingdom in the late seventies/early eightiesof the last century) (VAN DER HEYDEN, 1992), North America, Asia and Australia. But there are exhibition facilities in some (tropical) developing countries, too-e. g. in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras and Suriname.These facilities in developing countries-often breeding and exhibiting butterflies at the same time-provide opportunities for local communities and for nature as well-as long as they are well-managed and focussing on sustainability. They offer a chance in the fields of research and education, too (SAMBHU & JAMES, 2009).One of these facilities, the Kawê Amazonica Butterfly Farm-located in a tropical rainforest area in Guyana, South America (Fig. l)-is presented in this paper.