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Does anyone care about conservation?
With the recent flood of posts about orchid smuggling and CITES it got
me wondering. Is anyone on RGO involved with orchid conservation or involved with groups/societies that actively work to conserve orchid populations? If so what and how? I know most of you grow exotics and orchid conservation in other countries is often harder to make a difference with. Are there any "native" growers in the group and if so do your attitudes to differ from your exotic growing buddies? Where I'm coming from: I belong to a local Australasian Native Orchid Society group. The group has a very strong conservation ethic and thanks to the hard work of a few members the society has become a major player in conservation efforts in my state. While I applaud their efforts, my interest in orchids like most of yours is in cultivation rather than enjoying them in situ. However, I still feel some obligation with regard to responsible and ethical collecting which is why I chose to become involved in an orchid distribution program that my society runs. The aim of this program is to make legally obtained plants readily available at a dirt cheap price so that it's not worth the effort to illegally collect them from the wild thus removing the pressure from our already stressed orchid habitats. It also produces an ex situ pool should reintroduction be required. It's essentially the cultivation arm of the society's conservation effort. I was just wondering if there's anyone else who supports or takes part in actually doing something for orchids in the wild (or even cares). I know AOS supports conservations efforts but do you really care about that or are you just a member for the books and the mag. From reading this newsgroup and other forums it comes across that to many people the height of their interest in orchid conservation revolves around "rescuing" a half dead Phal hybrid from Lowes. :-) .......... :-( Sorry, if this post comes across as being cynical of the motives behind exotic growers. I'm also not pointing the finger at any specific people who have commented on the CITES debate. I'm just curious if anyone cares or is "Rape and Pillage" still acceptable in this day and age. |
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