Butterfly farming - a sucessful resource from Arabuko-Sokoke Forest
Category: Eco-friendly products, Forest products, Sustainable income generating activities | Date: Oct 29 2008 | By: davidngala
Ever heard of butterfly farming? Well at Kipepeo butterfly project its all about butterflies. Kipepeo is the Swahili word for butterfly. These beautiful creatures are all colours, all sizes all species. At the Kipepeo butterfly project all types of butterflies are breed.
one of the butterfly species at the forest
The Kipepeo project based in Gede aims at linking conservation of Arabuko-Sokoke forest and livelihoods development of surrounding rural communities. Arabuko-Sokoke forest has a unique biodiversity which presents a good habitat for butterfly farming. Farmers living adjacent to the forest are allowed in the forest to collect butterfly species of which they can breed in their butterfly farm houses and the pupae is packed and sold abroad in Japan, Europe and USA in exhibitions.
The Kipepeo project is an initiative that sort to support the conservation of the forest through the sustainable utilization of butterfly biodiversity to benefit the local communities. It also seeks to diversify coastal tourism through exhibit of live butterflies. This project has been a key step in conserving Arabuko-Sokoke forest by providing an alternative income source to local communities while at the same time, the locals seeing the value of the forest and conserving it.
The project benefits over 100,000 people in 50 villages around Arabuko-Sokoke. They have now organized themselves into 27 community groups. Kipepeo runs an attractive butterfly house at its centre in Gede Ruins. For more information on this project please visit www.kipepeo.org or contact kipepeo@africaonline.co.ke
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