Jungle Collected Plants!? Illegal?

[FairyInTheFlowers]

When it comes to illegal sales of orchids, and the soulless 'poaching' of wild plants to meet those sales, that absolutely revolts me! But there are perfectly good and acceptable reasons to collect wild orchids. I am SOO for the conservation of wild orchids, and I totally agree about having certified people who know what they are doing going through areas that would be demolished for development and rescuing the orchids in that area. I also think efforts need to be made to collect seed-pods from the wild and cultivate them in nurseries in the country of origin, not only to make sure that there is true wild plants in the case that the species goes extinct in the wild, but so that the legally grown plants can be put out into the market to reduce pressure on wild collected plants. I would absolutely LOVE to travel the world in the efforts to help with the conservation of orchids, and take part in the research that goes behind those efforts! Aghh! The carelessness of people who have no regards of the natural world beyond their little bubble of life drives me up the wall!!! I just can't stand it when people couldn't care less that all the unnecessary destruction that goes on out there! Unfortunately, there will always be people like that, so we have to make sure we all do our parts! (Sorry about the thread hijack, but I needed to let out steam about this kind of stuff.)

[quiltergal]

The fact is orchid habitats world wide are shrinking on a daily basis. While I agree that jungle collecting just because a plant is "rare" and someone will pay lots of money for it is disgusting, there are times, plants and places where that does not come into play. As habitat is bulldozed or burned why not let collectors salvage what they can? The plants would die anyway. There needs to be middle ground somewhere that makes sense.

[Arenalbotanicalgarden]

Originally Posted by stefpix

What about collecting epiphytes from trees cut for logging or agriculture or development? that would actually be beneficial to conservation

That's what I do and I have the permits to do it.

[Cattleya17]

I agree Cody and Terri. I hope what i said earlier didnt come across as No jungle collected plants under any circumstances... Unfounded jungle collecting is what i was saying should be a no no. people who fetch the plants for the highest dollar without caring what happens,

I firmly believe in Conservationists collecting the plants from a habitat that its to be destroyed. they could then breed them and put them out for sale if people must have them....... I know one day this will not be an issue but until that time comes what are you supposed to do if someone is selling illegally collected plants???

Arenalbotanicalgarden- That sounds like a beautiful job!!

[manoj]

I have lost count of the number of times I stopped my veh. on jungle roads to admire diff. epiphytes in bloom on tall trees, wishing like hell that I had some device with me to climb them and collect just one sample of each. Then my conservationist principles take over and I drive off.Usually when I revisit the place a few months later I find that some road expansion or repair had taken place and the trees with all it's orchids have just disappeared! And I curse myself.....

[bumpman]

Just curious with a question for this interesting thread. Are there groups of orchid growers working with botanical gardens or universities who are growing endangered orchid species in order to preserve them when their natural habitats are destroyed? Sort of like how zoos are keeping some rare animals extant?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by bumpman

Just curious with a question for this interesting thread. Are there groups of orchid growers working with botanical gardens or universities who are growing endangered orchid species in order to preserve them when their natural habitats are destroyed? Sort of like how zoos are keeping some rare animals extant?

I don't know about other parts of the country, but of the limited experiences I've had in regards to speaking to a professor from a local community college who also works part time at a local botanical garden here in So Cal, to my knowledge, there isn't a program like what you mention in the Los Angeles County area of Southern California.

I may be wrong on this, but I also get the vibe from this particular professor where he believes that "hobbyists and botanical gardens don't mix", so to speak...

Don't be surprised if some people who work in some botanical gardens may think in a similar fashion.

[lepanthes89]

I tend not to be so absolute about this matter.There has to be a middle ground.I agree that "development" does more damage to an ecosystem than 1000 "collectors" could in their lifetimes!
Lets not forget that ALL orchids in cultivation today (or their ancestors) were collected at some point in the past.No?
What I'm getting to is that there should be some way to bring new species to cultivation,by responsible people who whould introduce them to cultivation(and I dont mean just the elitist,"permits are only OUR domain" botanical gardens).

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by lepanthes89

I tend not to be so absolute about this matter.There has to be a middle ground.I agree that "development" does more damage to an ecosystem than 1000 "collectors" could in their lifetimes!
Lets not forget that ALL orchids in cultivation today (or their ancestors) were collected at some point in the past.No?
What I'm getting to is that there should be some way to bring new species to cultivation,by responsible people who whould introduce them to cultivation(and I dont mean just the elitist,"permits are only OUR domain" botanical gardens).

I tend to agree that there is a middle ground. I do agree that botanical gardens and hobbyists/collectors can collaborate to conserve plants.

There is some evidence that this can work.

For example...

The overpopulation of dogs and cats have been because humans have had these animals as pets for a very long time in human history and they produce lots of offspring per mating.

Dogs and cats are not in danger of becoming extinct. They have the opposite problem. Many of them can't find homes!

The same can be said about orchids and their conservation.

The issue is, there is a problem of worth. In the trade, more orchids of one particular species or hybrid = an orchid that is worth less $$$ than an orchid that is available in smaller quantities. This is the basic business principle of "supply and demand".

Then there is the issue of "Is it worth carrying a certain species of orchid on the sales list/collection because it isn't a showy species that'll have a difficult time being sold or is difficult to trade with others?"

[Arenalbotanicalgarden]

Originally Posted by stefpix

What about collecting epiphytes from trees cut for logging or agriculture or development? that would actually be beneficial to conservation

That's what we do here.A guy cut down an Ipe for lumber the other day and I snagged about 50 plants of 6 or so varieties and some nice bromeliads.