Butterflies, Wildlife Farming and Open Access: An Experiment from Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Open access regimes generate a serious conservation risk to harvested species. Nonetheless, the assumption that open-access applies to cases of wildlife farming is rarely tested whilst often assumed. This assumption merits testing. The birdwing butterfly Ornithoptera priamus is employed as a case to detect the presence of open access with butterfly-farming in Papua New Guinea. One of the rationales for selecting Papua New Guinea was the absence of government enforcement effort to regulate harvest or deter poaching. A fixed-effects panel-data regression using behaviour across eleven provinces was employed. The data set had records of 56,000 harvested butterflies. Open access conditions were not detected. It is posited that the two intermediary organisations purchasing butterflies for export sale did not share the open-access incentive to over-harvest. Further they were able to use their market power to influence the farmers to maintain sustainable practices.