Dear Peter, Thank you for your comments/critics on the articles.
Let me clear several things... First of all, the articles were made up based on a series of discussions in a local orchid enthusiasts group (no Viateur, not OGD). There are much more being discussed and written but do not appear in the article due probably to limited space in the paper. The discussions were of local interests and the audience are mostly locals too so your comments wrt below do not really applies (there's no winter, no hurricane and we grow outdoors - no electricity required for heating/air-cond, etc.). "To anyone who thinks a species will have a better chance of survival in their care than in the wild ..... your thinking is so short-term it is unbelievable. How will you care for your rare species after your death ? Or when the power gets cut during winter ? Or when your farm is swamped by a hurricane ? Or when the price of electricity rises so high you cannot afford heating ? You can provide no long-term guarantees of any kind ... so stop being presumptuous. Only the natural environment can provide a long-term solution; you cannot." After my death, you must be kidding??? My family loves orchid too. Can you guarantee an area which you try to conserve will still remain after your death? My real answer is if you instill enough interest in orchids (and other flora/fauna) in your family & community, they will carry on whatever you did growing/conserving orchids be it in-situ or ex-situ. When both of us dies, life will go on and it will be beyond control of any of us. One thing for sure, human population is and will increase exponentially and more jungles will have to make way for developments either you like it or not. Probably in the next millenium, the only flora and fauna that our descendants will get to see will be in glass structures erected as conservatories. Maybe human will colonise the moon and other planet by then too as probably you can't even make one step without trampling on another human. Secondly, I wrote my comments in the group based of what came across my mind at the moment. It was never initially meant to be published in a newspaper or anything. If I wrote an article for a newspaper, I will surely double-check my facts before submitting it. As a perfectly normal human being, I do made mistake which I do appreciate being corrected. I agree that I erred when writing the statement below... "...because of CITES regulations, governments or companies may clear thousands of hectares of land in the name of development but, ironically, it is illegal to go into these areas and collect the orchids before they are destroyed". I did mean to say it was the local laws and regulations that is responsible for this. I thought it was clear to my intended audience in the group in my subsequent writings but the article probably didn't sum it up well enough. I were not privy to the draft of the article before it being published so no correction can be done by me. But I stand by my view that CITES regulations ought to be more relaxed to allow freer trade of artificially propagated orchids, be it hybrids or species. How? You and me may have a different suggestions and you are definitely free to disagree with mine. :-) With regards to your comments on Bulb. thiurum and Phalaenopsis appendiculata, I didn't say that artificial propagation (AP) can stop illegal poaching until the species can no longer be found in the area they were initially found. But AP will prevent the species from becoming totally extinct. AP plants can surely help increasing the availability of the species to the market to meet the demand and the plants can be reintroduced back into their original habitat if the local authorities take enough care to do it. If these 2 species were discovered before AP were invented, they would surely be goners by now. I have never claim to be an expert in this field and the statements were merely impromptu responses made in a discussion. I am not a conservation champion and do not wish to be one. (The author was exaggerating when he wrote that I am "a highly respected orchidist" as I am a nobody nor do I wish to becomes somebody either in political or orchid world). Please feel free to give more critics but please accompany it with more positive suggestions as then this can proceed to be a more educative discussion rather than a bashing session. I think I won't be the first to tell you not to believe 100% of what you read in a newspaper. Things may be misquoted or taken out of context. If you care enough, these can easily be rectified if you contact the relevant person for clarifications. Lastly but not least, with all things being said above, I salute you for all your works in orchids taxonomy of the region and I hope that you will still allow me to correspond with you on this subject in the future. Peace. My best, Nik Fahmi, Kuala Lumpur. --- Vortex's Orchids : http://zanaf.dyndns.biz _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
