A Butterfly Sanctuary is a tourist attraction and destination in which there are many facets: a Lepidome for butterflies, a craft shop, a wedding co-coordinating and bridal shop, a restaurant, a tea garden, a large indigenous nursery, a breeding room, a pupae room, a conference centre and shops to rent out, a river with coi fish, a volcano setting with an orchid house in the middle and plenty of parking.

You would need an area of at least 1024m² excluding the parking area.

Well, it is a complex of shops as answered in Question 1, so it stands to reason that your first income will be derived from the rentals charged per shop in the centre. Each shop is 12sqm, excluding the Conference centre that is 24sqm. There are 15 shops, excluding the lepidome, tea garden, large indigenous nursery, breeding room, pupae room and orchid house. The rental of the 15 shops alone would give you back your investment over three years.

It is difficult to give exact figures, bearing in mind that this would be determined by the provincial area in which the Butterfly Sanctuary is based. However, we can give a rough estimation from figures that we have had at the Western Cape Butterfly Sanctuary between the periods of 2021 to 2026. On an average 102 couples per day excluding children, bus tours and pensioners.

The cost of the Butterfly Sanctuary would vary from province to province. A cost factor to consider is the delivery of materials. The construction itself is approximately e.g. R1800 per sqm. This is excluding any vegetation, props or decor. Multiply this by 1024sqm as seen in the answer to question 2, giving you the sum of 1.5 million rand.

The development is estimated to take a period of between 8 to 15 months. Depending on local municipality (if necessary) and weather conditions.

You could build it yourself which will save you quite a lot of money or you can contact a consultant to assist you. aprofesional@butterflyconsultant.co.za

The best location to build such a Butterfly Sanctuary would be about 10 – 30km outside of a city centre. A nice short drive from the city where people can come to relax and enjoy the day, as if going to a park where they can braai, but have some conveniences close by, along with an awesome nature experience.

Contact a consultant to assist you. aprofesional@butterflyconsultant.co.za