Pandu
joined ZBC in 2006, successfully getting his job with the project after beating
off many other applicants from Pete village.
After undertaking training he now has a very strong knowledge about
butterflies and ecology and is also able to speak basic Italian.
Awilo is
responsible for keeping the garden in good shape for our visitors to
enjoy. Awilo is our
longest serving member of staff and was involved right from the beginning,
helping to build the butterfly enclosure in 2007.
Omar is the newest member of the team, having joined ZBC in October 2011. He has many years experience as a weaving teacher and has spent time in South Africa, Mozambique and more recently working with Moto in Stonetown.
Farmers
Seventeen
farmers are currently part of the project and all of them live in the village of Pete.
Before
joining ZBC Kombo was farming
cassava which meant he did not have much money.
His favourite butterfly is the Flying
Handkerchief because the butterflies lay many eggs and the caterpillars
grow very quickly, turning into pupae within two and a half weeks.
Rungu
used to make his money from charcoal production. He is now one of ZBC’s most successful
farmers earning 5 times more money as a butterfly farmer than he did
before. Rungu is using his money to
build a house for his new family.
Previously
working as a fisherman Ngala enjoys
the educational aspect of being a butterfly farmer. He feels that there is a lot to learn with
butterfly farming and he also enjoys learning and using English at the project.
Haji is
one of our newest farmers. He believes
that ZBC does a good job trying to protect the forest. He says that if people work as butterfly
farmers they don’t need to make money from cutting down trees anymore.
Kinyeta is
a big fan of butterflies. He joined ZBC
in 2008 and is very pleased that the project offers jobs to young people in
Pete. His favourite butterfly is the Green Banded Swallowtail because of its
beautiful black and electric blue pattern.
Miza has
5 children and started working for ZBC in 2006.
While she is happy to work for ZBC she says that it is not always
easy. The caterpillars need a lot of
care and it is easy for them to die meaning that all her hard work is
wasted.
James
joined the project in 2008 and has 6 children.
He uses the money he earns from butterfly farming to feed his
family. James is one of the more
outspoken farmers and the staff enjoy his jokes, support and occasional
complaints in the weekly farmer meetings.
With
a large family of 7 children Mwanvua
is very thankful for the extra money she earns farming butterflies. Although she is very busy looking after her
family she has become one of the projects best farmers, bringing in many
different species of pupae.
Mtumwa is
another new farmer but she already makes good money with ZBC. She says this money is very important to her
as she has many things to buy to keep her family healthy and happy. Mtumwa mostly farms the African Swallowtail because the female lays many eggs.
Butterfly
farming is usually harder for women because they have so much other work to
do. Despite having 5 children Khadija is one of the projects best
farmers. She likes all butterflies but her favourite is the Flying Handkerchief because they lay a
lot of eggs.
After education, Mwinyi
returned to Pete in 2003. Like many other young people he found it
difficult to find work. Mwinyi was glad
to join ZBC as a butterfly farmer.
Mwinyi volunteers at the local mosque and when you hear the afternoon
call to prayer there’s a chance it’s him.
Not
only is charcoal production damaging for the forest but it’s also very hard
work. When the opportunity of butterfly
farming came up Sancho was more than
happy to stop making charcoal and start working with ZBC.
Figo has
farmed for ZBC for 3 years and lives close by to the project. He is one of the better farmers at the
project and brings a good diversity of pupae including the species that are
harder to farm but are more profitable.
Subira’s
family all work together to farm butterflies for ZBC. Subira was one of 5 female farmers who
received a micro-loan from an American NGO.
These mircroloans funded the netting and containers the farmers needed
to farm butterflies.
As
a new farmer Muslih is doing very
well. He is already selling a good
number and diversity of pupae to ZBC and staff are impressed by the health and
size of his pupae. The ZBC staff look
forward to working with Muslih and all the other new farmers in the future.
Although
Jozani National Park is a great success for Zanzibar its creation meant that
farmers like Safina had to stop
growing crops within the new park’s boundaries.
This sudden loss of livelihood meant that some people had to turn to
charcoal production to make a living.
Juma is
the younger brother of Kombo. At only 18
years old he showed great initiative by watching and learning his brother and
starting to farm butterflies on his own.
ZBC was happy to help Juma and supplied him with some of the equipment
he needed.
Admission Fees:
On most days there are near guaranteed sightings very close to the park headquarters. Other primate species commonly sighted at the park include Skye’s monkey and at night time bushbabies (Galagos). 
The park is also very good for birding and there are there are many trails through the forest to follow and explore, including an elevated board walk through mangroves.
