Butterfiles For A Living?

Hais Wasel (left)... butterfly farm generates income for Ohu villagers.

OEbeautiful madang' as the name says is truly a unique and attractive place. The province has hectares of pristine wildlife as well as untouched tropical rainforests and marine life. There are many small islands to visit, good scuba diving spots and astonishing places to see. One such place is the butterfly farming and conservation project located at Ohu village in the Gogol area of the province. The Ohu butterfly farm is situated along the mountainside with a striking view of the coastline of Madang town. It takes approximately 45 minutes to get there by road and is truly a wonderful place to visit.

The Ohu butterfly farming and conservation project began in 1992 as a means to protect the natural forest from a logging company operating in the Ohu area. The company has now scaled down its operations from clear felling the forests to farming selected species of trees, which are harvested for export.

The villagers who benefited from the former practice of logging no longer received royalties and could not support their families financially.

In an effort to find an alternative but also environment-friendly way to earn money, the village leaders met with some scientists from the Wau Ecology Institute in Morobe province to discuss their problems. Several alternatives were put forward and one was butterfly farming.

Hais Wasel, a local from the area, and other villagers thought the idea was a good one because there was no cost involved in starting the project and so in 1992, a butterfly farm was started.

"We thought the idea was good since it could generate income for the locals, it is an ecotourism project, creates job opportunities for the villagers and it is also a conservation project," said Wasel, 40, who is now the overall coordinator of the butterfly farming and conservation project.

After 11 years, the butterfly farm is getting bigger and better and has attracted tourists as well as international scientists to do research on the farm and in the surrounding pristine tropical forest. Today, the farm extends to an area of five hectares and has many species of butterflies breeding and living there. It is an open farm in which butterflies come and go as they please and are not kept in a specific area for breeding and feeding purposes.

Wasel, who has an ecology and entomology background after many years of working at the Wau Ecology Institute, has used a variety of techniques to attract these lovely insects to live and breed in the area. Planting varieties of flowering plants is one major way to attract them.

"Butterflies are always attracted to colourful flowering plants and with the many flowers in the farm, it has attracted many different species of butterfly," says Wasel.

Another was growing the plant known as Tagala all around the farm. The plant is a member of the Aristolochila family, which butterflies love to eat and breed on.

The farm also contains one of the rarest butterfly species in the world. This butterfly is commonly known as Paradisia-Paradisa while its scientific name is Kradibia Ohuensis Weiblen. An American entomologist discovered it in 1999 after conducting a research into the types of butterflies found in the area.

This rare finding has paved the way for more research to be carried out by other scientists in the area to find out more about the insects and plants that live there.

Wasel said they usually sell butterflies to the institute in Morobe province but he is now planning to sell them directly overseas. They only sell butterflies that are not protected.

€ Geraldine Vilakiva and Grace Tiden are journalism students at Papua New Guinea's Divine Word University.