Island Glass Wings

s. When those local farmers run out of income from the butterflies they have to resort to other ways of making a living, in most cases this means clear cutting the rainforest for lumber. This destruction of the rainforest ruins the habitat for the butterflies and many other creatures and puts endangered butterflies at risk for extinction. A prime example of this is the worlds largest butterfly Ornithoptera alexandrae. Because it is protected and illegal to sell around the world, the people of Papua New Guinea can't raise it on farms. They resort to logging the small area that Ornithoptera alexandrae lives in and puts it even more at risk. If this butterfly was able to be sold around the world the local people would be able to set up butterfly farms and preserve the species as well as the rainforest.