What is a lepidopterist?- Answer to Guy Van de Poel

[Guy Van de Poel & A. Kalus]

Hi Eduardo and all,

> About Germany, I'm asking myself why? Why a so high number of butterfly
(snip)
> compared with wolfes, bears, and other kinds of large animals, with
> different ecologies...

Why ? It is the 'easy' way.
The 'protection' problem is a difficult one: as we (and everybody else who
is able to think and has the right input) know, you need to protect the
habitat in order to protect a species. This must be done on an area large
enough so that the species can reach other populations, in order to prevent
in-breeding and at the same time it is an insurance against natural
catastrophies that can wipe out a local colony. Several small patches, not
too far apart (stepping-stone principle) seem to be a better solution than
only a couple of larger areas, too far apart for the smaller species.
Nice theory, but the problem is money. To realize this, you would need an
enormous lot of land, and of course an equally enormous amount of money to
buy and later maintain it. Maybe the chemical industry could see a benefit
in this scenario, because they would have to sell more spraying stuff, as
the farmers would 'see' hordes of insects coming out of these refuges ...
Furthermore this solution is too difficult, and not apalling to a
politician, as it is a project that will take more than the four years they
are in their seats.
In a way too bad, because the European union is now paying farmers *not* to
grow crops, in order to keep the prices high enough. Every year meat and
legumes have to be burned, milk and butter piled up to keep the **farming
industry** happy. And than I will mention tobacco only briefly.
Buying the land they shouldn't use makes sense to me, maybe someone should
start some thinking in this direction.
But, a long-term solution, and as such, not interesting to politicians who
are not long enough in their seats to gain from it. And it requires a lot of
work and money.
And it is so much easier to blame the ones with nets ... (and if they made a
law, they did the job).

> About Spain, i really didn´t know it was illegal to capture anything
> there... is it also applied to moths, Pieris sp. and most insects?
(snip)
> One has to think about real interests about this....

I did not know about the membership of a Spanish organization. Can somebody
give some more information on this - Spain is on my wish-list.

> About Turkey... why? Is it to prevent illegal trading? It must be...

It is the same thing in China and several other countries: to keep
type-specimens in the country. Turkish scientists complain about getting no
money to do what needs to be done - but all scientists complain about this
(politicians say - they have to pay them). The main problem is that there
are virtually no amateurs in Turkey, so the data (distribution - season -
habitat - ...) have to come back from abroad. On the other hand, if a
poacher is caught, they have a good rope to hang him with. (Then again the
rope does not care who it is holding ...)

Guy.


 
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