I support the concept behind CITES. I think it's necessary to place
international control over the trade in endangered species as you can't
rely on goverments to have an ethical approach to conservation.
However, you've just pointed out why I think CITES is destined to fight
a losing battle. If there was a concerted effort by the controlling
parties to artificially propagate CITES listed plants in an effort to
flood the market with affordable, legally obtainable plants the
collecting pressure on endangered plopulations would fall dramatically.
Unfortunately, without such a mechanism the "must have" and "rape and
pillage" attitudes that abound in the orchid growing community will
continue to the detriment of the conservation status of the plants.
Andrew