Butterfly Conservation in Africa

Outside of specialist lepidopterist and citizen science circles in Southern Africa, butterfly farming in Kenya (Kipepo Project) and Tanzania (The Amani Butterfly Project) and to an extent the Bobiri Butterfly Sanctuary close to Kumasi, Ghana (still underdeveloped), butterfly conservation, ecotourism, and farming is still very underdeveloped in Africa South of the Sahara. Yet, given the evergreen forests of the tropics, and the diverse climates in sub-Saharan Africa, the African continent remains not only the second continent with the largest number of butterfly species on the planet (apart from Central America), the potential for butterfly ecotourism, farming, and forestry protection is considerable. The centrality of butterflies in citizen science education and of butterflies as indicators of healthy ecosystems in a time of climate change and rapid deforestation indicates that this sector in relation to megafauna conservation has been rather underlooked.