Fragile Loot
SURYA PRAKASH
Lepidopterist and conservationist
OF THE 17,000 species of butterflies on the planet, India is home to around
1,500. They are found practically all over the country; regions of higher
concentration include the Northeast, the Himalayas, the Nilgiri Hills and the
Western Ghats. Delhi alone has around 80 species of butterflies, as opposed to 56
in the whole of the United Kingdom.
But of late, the numbers of these Lepidopteron — or insects with four wings —
have dwindled drastically. Around a hundred species of the butterfly are on
the verge of extinction in India. The decline has been so rapid, especially in
the Third World, that if allowed to go unchecked, it will be irreversible.
Butterflies are almost always treated as non-target species in wildlife
conservation and management programmes. The “Protected Area Network” set up by
the government is directed towards “iconic” fauna like the tiger, the Asiatic
lion, the elephant and the rhinoceros. While no one has an agenda against
butterflies, these small, beautiful — and agriculturally important — creatures are
often ignored.
Butterflies are an indicator of environmental health. Few are aware of the
crucial role the butterfly plays in pollination of a large portion of
economically important crops and flowering plants, which is second only to the
honeybee. The millennia-old silk industry is also dependent on the butterfly. Should
the butterfly diversity decline, it will directly affect the country’s
agriculture.
India must learn from the US experience, where many butterflies are
endangered — as are their host plants — because of depletion in forest cover. The US
is now importing live butterflies to rehabilitate them. Apart from nectar of
flowers, butterflies feed on decaying fruits and dead animals. Pretty flowering
plants in landscaped gardens are not necessarily butterflies’ host plants. To
ensure diversity of butterfly species, natural forests are vital.
Poachers are increasingly posing a big menace to butterflies in India.
Large-scale poaching and international smuggling is the biggest threat to many
species of Himalayan butterflies; the Apollo and the Swallowtail are the most
threatened species. The poachers’ aim is to make money and they have no qualms
about how they do it. Recently, three foreign nationals came to Sikkim on student
visas and began collecting butterflies and moths along with other insects.
Vigilant environmental activists spotted them and they were nabbed by the
police. They were released after being fined just Rs 25,000 each.
These Lepidopteron are killed, dried and used in greeting cards and for
other ornamental and decorative purposes. Smugglers engage locals, especially
children, in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Rohtang Pass and the Western Ghats,
paying them Rs 30-50 for every butterfly they catch. The price some of them
can fetch in the international market can be as high as USD 2,500-3,500. China
and South East Asia, especially Thailand, are the main destinations of
smuggled butterflies. Often they carry the butterflies in envelopes and matchboxes.
They discard the ones whose wings are damaged; at times this number can go up
to a thousand.
Lack of expertise in the identification of butterflies helps poachers get
away easily. There have been many incidents where international smugglers were
released from police custody because no one knew whether the butterfly came
under threatened species or not. Such lacuna in the system needs to be urgently
redressed.
But the single most important threat to butterflies is the destruction of
forest cover. The need of the hour is to periodically review the state and
health of species-specific host plants, increased vigilance against butterfly
poaching where they are found in abundance, and education of school children from
the primary level about butterflies and the vital role they play in different
aspects of human life.
THE GOVERNMENT should encourage those who are already engaged in butterfly
conservation programmes and are working as field guides in their area. Farmers
should be educated about the butterfly’s importance as a pollinator in
agriculture; a national data bank should be set up and academic institutions should
discourage students from submitting annual projects on butterfly collection.
Excess pesticide use and overgrazing should be discouraged as they kill
butterfly eggs and larvae. For the butterfly, crop rotation farming is better any day
over monoculture. A study conducted in the tea estates of Assam shows that
butterfly density was low in tea gardens because of monoculture as compared to
forests.
In the south and the northeast where a good number of people are involved in
butterfly study and conservation as compared to other parts of the country,
the Ministry of Environment and Forests has provided financial assistance for
captive butterfly breeding programmes. Such government initiatives are
encouraging but they require consistency and greater spread across the country.
>From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 3, Dated Jan 26 , 2008
Laurie Davies Adams
Executive Director
Coeovlution Institute
425 Washington Street, 5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111
415 362 1137 (p)
415 362 3070 (f)
LDA at coevolution.org
www.coevolution.org
www.nappc.org
www.pollinator.org
Join the Pollinator Partnership working to protect agriculture and ecosystems
- visit www.pollinator.org
**************
Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape.
http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.sonic.net/pipermail/pollinator/attachments/20080119/5f5ee7db/attachment.html