POLLINATORS POLLINATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION

THE ASSESSMENT REPORT ON POLLINATORS, POLLINATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION
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5. BIOCULTURAL DIVERSITY, POLLINATORS AND
THEIR SOCIO-CULTURAL VALUES
Butterflies are also commonly used as symbols of nations
and states, and in festivals across the globe (Howse, 2010).
The endemic birdwing butterfly Troides darsius is recognised
as the national butterfly of Sri Lanka (van der Poorten et
al., 2012). Twenty-three states in the United States of
America have butterflies as their state insects, commonly
the monarch, which is also used in corporate symbols.
In Africa, the Bwa of Burkina Faso dance at agricultural
festivals wearing huge butterfly masks, up to seven feet
across, with circles and designs representing the markings
on the wings, to symbolise fertility and new life brought
by the first rains (Wheelock and Roy, 2007) (Figure 5-20).
Celtic culture in Europe uses butterflies as symbols of rebirth
and transformation in contemporary culture shamanistic
practices and Celtic designs in diverse crafts, including body
tattoos (Pearce, 1996; Conway, 2001).
Bumble bees have symbolic significance among many north
and central American peoples: the Chiricauhua Apaches
have a myth that bumble bees preserve fire in their home in
a yucca stalk; Shasta people tell of bumble bees surviving
the flood (Farrand and Frachtenberg, 1915; Olper, 1942).
The Nadaco (or Anadarko) tribe from eastern Texas are
named Nadá-kuh meaning “bumble bee place” (Fogelson
and Sturtevant, 2004) and the Hohokam had a ‘Bumblebee
Village’ (Ferg et al., 1984). For Thalhuicas (Pjiekakjoo)
people in Mexico, bumble bees themselves symbolise the
ancestors’ souls that appear around the day of the death to
visit their families (Aldasoro, 2012).
5.3.4 Aesthetic values and
pollinators (socio-cultural valuation)
Pollinators are valued indirectly via their link to insectpollinated
plants, particularly those with showy flowers
such as orchids, roses, sunflowers and many others that
are aesthetically important as components of landscapes,
vistas, gardens or parks (Hochtl et al., 2007; Schmitt
and Rakosy, 2007; Wratten et al., 2012) (Figure 5-21).
Traditional European agricultural landscapes with flowering
plants are also highly regarded for their cultural values (Reif
et al., 2005; Rusdea et al., 2005). In Switzerland, studies
have shown that people favour improving and creating
field margins as habitat for species, landscape diversity
and aesthetic value, and also showed marked preference
for the season when plants are flowering (Junge et al.,
2009, 2015).
Traditional European beekeeping apiaries and their
protective structures also add aesthetic value to the
landscapes. Apiaries are built in specific areas in order
to protect bees from cold, heat, wind and predators. In
Slovenia, little wooden houses that protects bees are
painted with pictures, so that bees can find them more
easily, and to help the beekeeper distinguish hives and
remember which colonies had already swarmed. The
picturesque images depicting historical events, Bible stories,
and everyday village life, enrich the cultural Slovenian
heritage, transforming the landscape into an outdoor art
gallery (Rivals 1980, Beattie, 2006). The Museum of Ancient
Beekeeping in Lithuania, in the Aukštaitija National Park,
celebrates the God of bees Babilas and the goddess
Austėja from Lithuanian mythology and is surrounded by
wooden sculptures representing the mythology of the origin
of the bee in different cultures: Egyptians, American Indians
and Lithuanians (Association of Lithuanian Museums, 2014).
In Southern Europe, especially in France and Spain, it is
common to meet specific apiaries, called mur à abeilles
(bee-walls) directly constructed in a rock wall or protected
by an enclosure in the landscape. Similar beekeeping
apiaries are found in other European countries, especially
those where rock is frequently used for human constructions
(Mestre and Roussel, 2005).
FIGURE 5-20
Bwa butterfly plank mask. Wood,
paint and rafia. © Christopher D. Roy.
Reproduced with permission.
The butterfly (horizontal) mask is danced
in a festival, and symbolises the life-giving
power of nature.