BOLIVIA: Guembe Biocentre in Santa Cruz home to more than 3,000 species of butterflies

Beautiful, delicate and often short-lived, the fragile butterfly is one of nature's most vulnerable victims of air pollution and land contamination. In Bolivia, among the top eleven countries in the world in terms of biodiversity, the 3,000 species of butterfly are regarded as a treasure to be protected. Bolivia has the fourth largest number of butterflies in the world and at the Guembe Biocentre in eastern Bolivia's Santa Cruz, biologists hope to preserve that distinction. The Guembe Biocentre is the world's largest eco-centre, covering an area of 2500sqm and 30m high, preserving both flora and fauna in Bolivia's Los Yungas region, the most important eco-system in the country. By protecting and developing species, biologists working at the centre can collect and to date have registered 104 butterfly species and 240 of orchids. Los Yungas is a wealth of flora and fauna, and visitors to the Guembe centre can walk along ecological footpaths and forests, wander through the orchid and butterfly gardens, swim in natural swimming pools, fish in lagoons and enjoy natural therapies. Most important for the centre is that it exists to compliment its surrounding nature and communities. At Guembe's butterfly farm, all phases of the insect's development are observed and recorded. So far 16 different species have been raised at the farm, revealing the habits and characteristics of the butterflies. Guembe also has an educational role for local people; the centre buys butterflies from locals, butterflies that are dependent on a healthy environment. That means communities can benefit if they protect their environment to promote the preservation of the butterflies. Carlos Rezniceck, owner of the Guembe Centre, is optimistic about it's impact and relationship with surrounding communities. "The final plan of this (project), is that the communities around here sell me the butterfly chrysalises, it will be great because if I buy them, then they will take care of the mountain and their forest and everything to raise them," he said. If they don't protect the true environment of the butterflies, local communities will find their livelihoods threatened, Rezniceck added. "To produce [the butterflies] you have to preserve the forest, you cannot produce in pasture because the butterflies need food and all that, so a chain is made where they [people] are going to be obliged to take care and where they can also make a living from it," he said. A 10 metre-high bridge at the centre allows visitors to observe butterflies in their own habitat while hearing talks from Guembe guides. Young visitors to the centre can learn about the different stages of a butterflies life. Every morning eco-workers, supervised by biologists, collect the butterfly eggs produced during the night. These are taken to the laboratory where they are recorded and stored according to species until they turn into caterpillars. Then they are transferred back into the farm to feed on specially selected plants, according to the species before they transform into chrysalis. As the butterfly finally emerges, it reaches final stage of transformation and for some butterflies, their life last just one day. Though developed in their own environment, the centre's farm fulfills a preservation role by protecting the butterflies from the many predators they face in the wild, says Guembe biologist Fabiola Perez. "In a more controlled environment, what we manage to develop is almost 100 percent (of the animals) which is different to a natural environment, which is practically 50 percent if not less, as butterflies' predators like ants, wasps, spiders are closer by. The laboratory is different to nature, everything is in their benefit," she said. In addition to educating the public about Bolivia's butterflies, the Guembe Biocentre also tries to provide aid to the surrounding communities by generating work and training the local people in "a new ethical culture of appreciation for nature".

ITN Source | June 23, 2006

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