UK gives $2M for new butterfly industry

UK gives $2M for new butterfly industry
Kaieteur News, 3 April 2008
http://www.kaieteurnewsgy.com/news.html

Little is known of the production of tropical butterflies for the
export market but that may soon change. The British High Commission
yesterday presented a cheque for just over $2 million to Iwokrama to
support the development of the industry at Fair View village in the
Iwokrama Forest.
The money will be used to purchase UV resistant panels for the roof of
a butterfly house that is being built for the production of
butterflies. A team of experts from the UK is in Guyana to lend
support to the project and Iwokrama has received expressions of
interest from greenhouses in the USA and the UK which are willing to
purchase the butterflies. The butterflies will be bred and exported
when they reach the pupa stage.
Butterfly production is seen as a growing business especially for
tropical countries and Guyana could likely join a list of countries,
including neighbouring Suriname, which are already benefiting from
this market. Training for the production of a butterfly guide,
identifying caterpillar diseases, butterfly identification and
taxonomy have already been carried out and there are plans to build a
packing room where the pupas will be packed for shipping and a
visitors centre. These plans will enhance Guyana's growing ecotourism
industry.
The project is part of the Darwin Initiative programme through which
the UK assists countries to reach their obligations to the
International Convention on Biological Diversity by helping them to
achieve the conservation of biological diversity; the sustainable use
of its components; and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits.
To date the programme has supported six projects in Guyana