JP/18/KUPU2

JP/18/KUPU2

Breeding butterflies while conserving soil

"If a real estate company runs an ad with pictures of various
types of butterflies to depict the beauty of its housing projects
but fails to grow the plants that butterflies like best, then you
can be sure the ad is a lie."

This advice comes from Herawati Soekardi, who has succeeded in
breeding 25 species of butterfly at the Wan Abdurrahman People's
Forest Park, Mount Betung, Bandarlampung.

Herawati, a lecturer at Lampung University, is eminently
qualified to sound such a warning as she is very knowledgeable
about the behavior of butterflies.

Based on her research and involvement in the conservation of
butterflies, Herawati has concluded that it is only in areas with
host plants that butterflies will thrive. On barren land without
a variety of plants, it will be impossible for butterflies to
thrive and reproduce.

Herawati's butterfly conservation efforts involve the breeding
of butterflies and their release into the wild. With at least 25
species successfully bred so far, Sahabat Alam at first only set
up a butterfly park to serve as a small-scale breeding center,
with the garden of Herawati's house in Way Halim Permai,
Bandarlampung, as its core.

As space was limited, Herawati expanded her program to cover
four hectares of forest near Tanjung Manis village, Mt. Betung,
Bandarlampung, which formed part of the community forest zone
known as the Wan Abdurrahman People's Forest Park.

Herawati's choice of the Mt. Betung forest to host the
butterfly breeding center was based on its proximity to the city
of Bandarlampung -- only about 30 minutes' drive away -- and the
fact that the area, which lies at an altitude of 1,250 meters,
had been severely deforested and was urgently in need of remedial
action.

While Herawati was in no position to save the entire forest,
which covered 2,249.21 hectares, she was nevertheless determined
to save the butterflies and help promote the conservation of some
8,000 hectares of land.

"Butterflies only live for a couple of weeks. But as long as
they are alive, they provide us with beauty and maintain the
ecological balance," she explained.

When she first came to the Betung forest, it had already been
badly damaged by squatters. While two decades earlier an
astounding variety of birds, monkeys and colorful butterflies
could still be found on the mountain, by 1997, the year in which
she started breeding butterflies, the natural wealth had been
decimated, with no more birds or monkeys, and butterflies few and
far between.

At the early stages of her research, the forest was dominated
by Pterocarpus indiscus Wild., Coffea arabica and Imperata
cylindrica.

From June 1999 through June 2000, miscellaneous flowering were
reintroduced followed by 25 species of host vegetation to provide
food for butterfly larvae. The seedlings were brought to Betung
from various places in Lampung and other parts of Sumatra.

The findings of field surveys show that the butterfly species
frequenting and reproducing in the habitat-enriched forest belong
to the families of: Papilionidae (13 species); Pieridae (9
species); Danaidae (2 species); Nymphalidae (7 species);
Lycaenidae (4 species); Satyridae (2 species); and Hesperiidae (4
species). The arrival of butterflies for reproduction occurred in
tandem with the becoming available of host and flowering plants.

The habitat enrichment work involved the establishment of
microhabitats suitable to different butterfly species.

During the initial phase, Yayasan Sahabat Alam identified the
butterfly species found in Lampung. Later, Herawati and her young
friends carried out a number of surveys to find host plants for
the larvae.

This was followed by the setting up of an openair butterfly
park to provide the microhabitats needed for the butterflies,
which was done by, first, growing diverse nectar-producing,
flowering plants, like Soka, Lantana, Pagoda, Jarong and
Kaliandra; and second, growing different host plants for
butterfly larvae such as Aristolochia tagala, soursop, avocado,
lime and Clausena excavata.

Gradually, Herawati's center began to provide a vast array of
plants for butterflies. With the flowering plants coming into
bloom and the trees growing bigger, a wide variety of butterfly
species began to frequent the park. Eventually, the once barren
land became a flower garden teeming with butterflies.

Herawati had proven that enrichment of microhabitats
through the diversification of plant species -- by growing host
trees and nectar producing plants -- encouraged a wide variety of
butterflies to reproduce, thus enabling conservation.

Many regents, mayors and the heads of provincial government
agencies in Lampung have stayed as Herawati's guests at her house
in the Gita Persada Butterfly Park, Mt. Betung. She always tries
to convince them that the establishment of urban parks is simple
and not necessarily costly.

"Unfortunately, most of them are not really interested. In
fact, the beauty of local environments can be enhanced through
the establishment of butterfly parks. In recreation areas and
resorts, such parks would also make tourists and guests feel at
home," she assured.

Following her success on Mt. Betung, Herawati is now obsessed
with the idea of establishing butterfly parks in all of Lampung's
cities, and even throughout Indonesia, if possible. "I'm ready to
serve as a consultant for free. But it's not easy to convince
people because when I make a proposal, many think that I'm out to
make money," she said.

According to Herawati, three firm promises to establish
butterfly parks had been made by tourist resort operators and
regency administrations in Lampung.

"The management of the Kalianda Resort, a beach tourist resort
in Kalianda, South Lampung, is willing to open a butterfly park.
This will increase the attractions of the resort," Herawati said.

The other site for earmarked for a butterfly park is the water
catchment zone near the Batutegi reservoir in Tanggamus regency,
Lampung. The reservoir serves as a water source for a hydropower
plant and paddy field irrigation in Tanggamus, but hydrological
conditions in the area are critical.

"With the planned land conservation program and the
development of a butterfly park in the zone, hopefully
hydrological conditions will improve so that the water flow
increases," added Herawati.

--Oyos Saroso HN