The Butterfly Sanctuary
We are like butterflies who can flutter for a day and think its forever.–Carl Segan
Our country is considered the ‘hottest of the hot spots’ by Conservation International because of the wide diversity of native flora and fauna. Considering that the Philippines only has about 6% of the original forest cover left, it is also no wonder that many of our rare and indigenous plants and animals are in the endangered list. So many have gone extinct and those are just the ones we know about. Each year, scientists discovered yet new species 
from the Philippine’s dwindling forest cover. Panay Island is no different. Perhaps Panay was even more devastated by deforestation as far back as the period of the Galleon Trade between Mexico and Philippines when huge timbers of Panay were cut to build the galleons crisscrossing the Pacific.
Of the many beautiful animals of the country and of this island, nothing compares to the majestic, simple beauty of butterflies. There are about 895 species of butterflies, of which 352 are endemic in our country. Know more of our native butterflies here.
Sulu Garden is surrounded by nature. On the south side is a small creek and across from it are forested areas of University of the Philippines in the Visayas. On its western side is a strip of forested areas as well. With plenty of flowering plants, Sulu Garden hosts many species of butterflies that visit us at different times of the year.
By continuously expanding our gardens with plants that attract butterflies, we hope that the Garden becomes both a haven for man and for butterflies as well.
Native Butterflies of Panay
Over the last two years, we had catalogued many of this species and we wish to share with you what we had seen. For more information, please click here or see the video here.
Our Butterfly Nursery
We are working on developing the process of growing butterflies from eggs to larvae, from larvae to pupae– and finally the butterflies we see flying around us. A back storage/equipment area was cleared and netted. Native butterflies are caught, fed inside the nursery and lay eggs on host plant grown in the garden or harvested from outside. Each butterfly species only lays egg in one very specific host plant whose leaves that particular species can feed upon. Here are some pictures of our ongoing attempt of growing butterflies. Please click the thumbnail to view larger image.
Photographs of butterflies shared by our FB friends.
