[OGD] collecting orchids in Malaysia
quotes from an article titled 'Let's collect wild orchids before they are destroyed' : "Wild orchid enthusiasts have been blamed for the possible dying out of various species. But these enthusiasts place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the authorities who allow forests to be cleared for development. They say that no attempts are made to save the flora in areas slated to be cleared. They also believe that the rules imposed by CITES (Convention for International Trade of Endangered Species) have only encouraged the illegal smuggling of wild orchids. "It may work well for its original intended purpose of controlling the trade in endangered animals, but I fail to understand why the same rules apply to wild orchids," said Nik Ahmad Fahmi Nik Abdullah. The 40-year-old... orchidist... has been promoting the beauty of Malaysia's wild orchids through his website Vortex's Orchids. Nik Ahmad Fahmi says 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. As for the Orang Asli trade in wild orchids, he says the percentage of wild orchids they remove from the jungle is negligible compared to what has been lost through "development". "I would rather allow the Orang Asli to collect and sell orchids in areas targeted for development. At least this will allow them to earn a decent income, and save the orchids from ultimate destruction," he said. Education, he adds, is an important tool for the survival of wild orchids. "While the Orang Asli and orchid enthusiasts need to be taught how to care for and propagate orchid species, legislators, developers and all parties need to be made aware of the importance of conservation." Nik Ahmad Fahmi feels that if the CITES rules against the trade in artificially propagated wild orchids are relaxed, growers would not resort to buying illegally collected orchids on the black market. ... "A species will have a better chance of survival in the care of orchid enthusiasts, rather than leaving them to their own devices in the wild," he said. Using bio-technology, thousands of plants could be propagated from a single seed pod in a lab, compared to maybe fewer than 10 plants surviving and reaching maturity in the wild. These plants could be used to re-introduce species into the wild as well. He added that the trade in artificially propagated wild orchids could finance the conservation of equally rare plants with little or no commercial value. ... 41-year-old Othman Ismail, who has been collecting orchids since he was 14, says the authorities should license non- governmental organisations or orchid societies to collect orchids. "Collection should be allowed only in logging areas or areas gazetted for development"... Nik Ahmad Fahmi and Othman are members of an orchid discussion group [OGD ?] on the Internet. They have helped many orchid enthusiasts to correctly identify rare specimens." http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Sunday/National/20061217094927/Article/local1_html *** photos : 1) caption : "wild orchids being sold at a market in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah" : http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Sunday/National/20061217094927/orchids1.jpg 2) caption : "Bulbophyllum restrepia, a rare species found in Terengganu... Dendrobium spcies discovered about a year ago... Galeola nudifolia, last found in the late 1800s in Vietnam but rediscovered near a road construction site in Terengganu" : http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Sunday/National/20061217094927/orchids2.JPG Regards, VB ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] collecting orchids in Malaysia
Oh dear, here we go again. Nik Fahmi, in his New Straits Times article: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Sunday/National/20061217094927/Article/local1_html has become the latest in a long list of people (all of whom really ought to know better) to confuse a National issue with an International one. This is a real pity because Nik made some pertinent points in the article (eg, the effect of Orang Asli activities, the need for a system of licensing to collect orchids in logging areas or areas gazetted for development), but he went and diluted their impact with some CITES-bashing nonsense. Nik said: "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". The fact is that there is nothing in any of the CITES provisions, resolutions, appendices, notifications or modifications by Conferences of Parties that makes any comment about the land-clearing actions of governments or companies, whether or not it is in the name of development. Similarly, CITES does NOT regulate whether or not Nik & his friends can go collecting in development areas. CITES is a set of protocols governing International trade, not a set of protocols about intra-national legislation. I suspect that Nik found it more convenient to blame his woes on an external organisation (CITES) rather than point the finger at the true culprit those in Malaysia who wrote the Malaysian laws. Unfortunately, by doing this, Nik has provided the lawmakers with an excuse not to make any changes "Alamak, that Fahmi man said it is CITES fault, so who can change, lah ?" Nik Fahmi said "if the CITES rules against the trade in artificially propagated wild orchids are relaxed, growers would not resort to buying illegally collected orchids on the black market". and: "A species will have a better chance of survival in the care of orchid enthusiasts, rather than leaving them to their own devices in the wild," Unfortunately, these statements (the Holy Grails of the Art. Prop. movement) are backed by lots and lots of emotive text, but very little in the way of hard data. Art. Prop. proponents will point to a solitary example of "saving" a truly rare species by these methods: Mexipedium xerophyticum. And I will counter with the numerous recent examples of truly rare species that have been collected to the point of near extinction in the name of orchid conservation. These include (among others), the well-known cases of Phragmipedium kovachii (Peru), Bulbophyllum echinolabium (Indonesia) and Paphiopedilum gigantifolium (Indonesia). From Peninsular Malaysia we have seen what happened to Bulbophyllum thiurum (the only known population was collected and sold before the name was even published) and Phalaenopsis appendiculata (the wild population was collected and sold within weeks of it's rediscovery, despite the "protection" of growing inside a National Park. Yes, I know that subsequent populations of each of the Malaysian species have been discovered they are the ones currently on sale in the nurseries. Not one of these orchid species was threatened by development. In each case the plants have been growing quite happily for tens or hundreds of thousands of years when left to their own devices in the wild but were wiped out almost overnight by those who collect on behalf of "orchid lovers" and the misguided people who believe that they can provide better conditions that the plant's natural habitat. 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. Peter O'Byrne in Singapore ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] collecting orchids in Malaysia
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 ___
