 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Butterfly Farming to Help Save Rain Forest
Warwick UK (SPX) Jun 16, 2006 Researchers at the University of Warwick's plant research arm Warwick HRI have received a 295,000 pound Darwin initiative grant to develop a butterfly farming industry in Guyana that will help support 5000 people in 16 rainforest communities and help save the rainforest itself. The University of Warwick team will work with the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation in Guyana. The conservation reserve around that centre and the surrounding North Rupununi District is a rich source of exotic butterflies that are sought after by many western butterfly farms and other institutions that exhibit collections of live butterflies. Each individual butterfly pupa that they can ship to one of these customers can be worth between 2 and 5 UK pounds. The creation of a sustainable butterfly farming business would help preserve the local rain forest in two ways. Firstly the local population will have a sustainable business that allows them to turn away from other activities that would involve yet more forest clearance and secondly that butterfly farming actually needs to conserve the rainforest because that is the butterflies' preferred habitat. The research will be led by Dr Doreen Winstanley and Neil Naish from Warwick HRI, the University of Warwick's plant research arm who already have experience of butterfly farming through their University spin out company - Warwick Insect Technologies Ltd. They will undertake a biodiversity survey of the butterfly community and their host plants within the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development Reserve. The survey will work with the indigenous Amerindian communities within the reserve and the surrounding North Rupununi District with the ultimate aim of enhancing the livelihoods of the 5000 individuals in the 16 rainforest communities in the Iwokrama forest through the sustainable development of a low-tech butterfly farming industry. The butterfly farming will be set up as a co-operative within the North Rupununi District of Guyana. Related Links University of Warwick The Darwin Initiative
Early Bird Caught The Fish
Philadelphia, PA (SPX) Jun 16, 2006Five fossil specimens of a near-modern bird found in the Gansu Province of northwestern China show that early birds likely evolved in an aquatic environment, according to a study reported today in the journal Science. Their findings suggest that these early modern birds were much like the ducks or loons found today. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
