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Post by putangitangi on Jun 8, 2012 15:58:55 GMT -8
Over the last couple of months as number of protected butterflies
have been offered for sale through Insectnet. The most striking example of this is Papilio moeneri from New Ireland which was advertised at up to 3000 Euros. One of the problems with this (besides being illegal), is that if the New Irelanders find out, they'll all be out collecting butterflies, 3000 Euros being almost 8000 PNG Kina which is a fortune for the locals.
There are also a number of other rare Papilios from Fiji, Samoa & Tonga which are in the process of being listed with CITES which has resulted in a rush to collect these butterflies while it is still legal. One collector recently caught 16 of the Samoan sub-species of Papilio godeffroyi.
Putangitangi
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Post by wollastoni on Jun 12, 2012 8:49:15 GMT -8
Well it would be great that locals earn their life by raising and selling local butterflies to foreign collectors and scientists. Butterflies are a sustainable resource if you don't destroy their biotops !!!
You should better support insect trade instead of putting these species under CITES laws and deter locals from earning some money. If they cannot earn money from the forest, they will cut it !!!
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jun 12, 2012 13:20:05 GMT -8
One collector recently caught 16 of the Samoan sub-species of Papilio godeffroyi. Putangitangi Does P. godeffroyi have any other subspecies?? I think not  Adam. |
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Post by putangitangi on Jun 12, 2012 13:20:23 GMT -8
Hi,
I agree that locals should earn money from their insects. In fact, for about 15 years, Papua New Guinea (PNG) ran a Government-backed organization called the Insect Farming & Trading Agency (IFTA) which exported Insects.
I suspect I may be accused of being racist and patronizing, but these businesses do best under ex-patriate supervision, and it will be several generations before the PNG locals manage to eschew cultural pressures and set up their own breeding and export businesses.
The other side of the Island, Irian Jaya is a entirely different case. Here Indonesians, the occupying power, can do whatever they please, totally ignoring the human rights of the locals, and flouting Cites restrictions. This is why most insects which have been recently collected and are labeled PNG are most probably from Irian Jaya.
Putangitangi
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Post by wollastoni on Jun 13, 2012 0:26:39 GMT -8
Well even the Wau Ecology Institute run by an American in PNG has disappeared. The situation in PNG is such a mess than even "ex-patriate supervision" as you say is not even sufficient.
About Irian Jaya, I fully agree about Indonesian occupation, but I would say that the insect business is more runned by Japanese directly with Papuans than by Indonesians. At least, it is what I have seen when I went there. Indonesian are more involved in more lucrative matters
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Post by putangitangi on Jun 25, 2012 20:58:07 GMT -8
I have been contacted by friends in New Ireland who inform me that some of the local people are aware that butterflies and insects from their area, for which they are paid very little if anything, are being sold overseas for many thousands of kina (PNG local currency). Unfortunately unscrupulous dealings of this kind make life very difficult for other legitimate travellers and collectors. I gather that this issue is due to be discussed at the next provincial government meeting and will update this post if anything eventuates.
Putangitangi
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Post by wollastoni on Jun 26, 2012 2:46:36 GMT -8
Yes locals should sell directly to collectors and make a real living from the sustainable exploitation/protection of their rich environment !
Personnally I would be happy to give them hundreds of euros for some Delias...
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Post by putangitangi on Jun 26, 2012 13:51:56 GMT -8
Yes, Hopefully sometime in the future, an organisation like PNG's IFTA will be ressurected. Unfortun ately, due to unrest, corruption and a deep and sometimes justfiable suspicion of foreigners in PNG, this is unlikely to be soon. I would be interested to know how collecting endangered butterflies "for scientific purposes" and then flogging them off for thousands of Euros, differs from the Japanese harvesting of minke whales under the same pretext.
If you are interested in Delias someone was advertising a couple of hundred Bismarck Delias on Insect Net fairly recently. They probably have many more.
Putangitangi
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