Professor Myers
Research Paper
WordCount: 2595
Date:August 21, 2008
Poaching assists in the Conservation of Ochids
There is a lunatic fringe to the orchid world, and a fine line between the average grower and the horticulturally insane, but the orchid world is also full of all sorts of fascinating people who are hopelessly enchanted by the process of learning to grow these fascinating plants. These plants have a long, rich history and they stir up the deepest of human passions. People are mesmerized by exotic looking flowers, and like besotted insects, most people are instinctively drawn to orchids. Big, beautiful, sexy flowers seem to be the most common attraction, but there is far more to the orchid story than the showy flowers. Money, power and prestige attract a certain sort of person, but in the end I think that people simply enjoy the thrill of uncovering complex botanical secrets. Charles Darwin, while he was formulating his theory of evolution, became so intrigued by orchids that he wrote an entire book about the relationship between these plants and their pollinating insects. Confucius called a certain species of Chinese orchid "The king of fragrant plants", Samurai cultivated orchids, and even people like Captain Bligh collected orchids. These plants have a long and rich history. This attraction dates back to at least the third century B.C. No qualities of character or intellect can protect against the plants' strange allure.
Those infected by what is known as "orchidelirium" describe a condition not just beyond addiction but beyond hope. The power of orchids to provoke and stimulate the sexual consciousness of humans has long been recognized. Orchids are subtle, delicate, and voluptuous masters of disguise. They take on the shapes, scents and colors that seduce the insects they feed upon. But they are best of all at seducing humans. The craving of orchid fanatics for "trophy" specimens now drives a vast illicit market whose supply routes crisscross the world and which, in many ways, resembles the international trade in drugs and arms.
The role of orchid poachers/smugglers assists in the conservation of orchids. “Poaching is the illegal hunting, fishing or harvesting of wild plants or animals” (Nadelmann 231). Today, strict rules concerning the trade and collection of orchids and other endangered plants exist. Many orchids are extinct from their natural habitat or are in risk of being extinct. Natural areas are changed or destroyed by man (e.g. wood-cutting, irrigation). Orchids are also poached from nature. It's often said that the orchids anyhow will disappear over time. Many reason that “man” should influence nature as little as possible and let the ecosystems stay as they are and that if man would have to influence an ecosystem, there should also be actions taken to prevent a change of the ecosystem.
The purpose of this research paper is to show that poaching and over-exploitation are not the only threat to endangered species. Shrinking habitats, pollution and more recently global warming have all played a role in the endangerment of these species. Human encroachment is a bigger threat than poachers. As open land is developed, forests cut down, and marshes drained, wild orchids lose habitat. Poachers continue to seek out new species from remote areas to satisfy the needs of compulsive collectors; completely denying access to something people strongly desire rarely works. This paper will discuss how the effects of habitat destruction, and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) whose intent is to is to monitor and restrict trade in certain species of fish, wildlife, and plants to protect them from commercial exploitation that might diminish the ability of the species to survive in the wild, and pose a threat to the conservation of orchids.
The big debate is whether smuggling hastens the extinction of wild orchids or whether it helps to preserve them. The head of the Commercial Orchids Guild, Jerry Fisher, acknowledges that “he knows there is a lot of orchid smuggling going on, but he defends orchid collectors with most of the time being very concerned about the preservation of the various species, and he credits them with increasing knowledge about the plants” (Jeffries 54). Orchid collectors believe that the biggest threat to orchids is loss of habitat, specifically rain forests. Most orchids live in rain forests, and as we are all aware, millions of acres of rain forest are cut or burned down every year for mining, timber, farming and development.
It has not been that long ago when you could purchase "jungle collected" plants. Many orchid people thought that the only way to get most of the rare species was through jungle collecting. All that has changed now, with new laws created and enforced in many countries. Some nations are now preventing all collection of orchid species from the wild within their borders. On the surface, the ban against collecting is to be applauded. However, there is a problem with the anti-collection program in many countries. The species are protected but the habitat necessary for their survival is not. As populations increase, greater demands are made on the land. When the land is cleared, the natural habitat of the orchids is also destroyed. Many of you may know that huge sections of rainforest are cleared for the lumber or adapted for farming every day. Virgin mountainous regions are also being adapted for human use. What is the future of the orchid species in these areas? The loss of habitat also means the loss of orchids, including those species that have yet to be discovered.
Since natural habitats are being destroyed so rapidly, it is better for a smuggler to go into the jungle and remove these plants to aid in the prevention of extinction. Orchid growers want to collect more endangered species from the wild to preserve them. Environmentalists, of course, choose to focus on preserving entire ecosystems rather than a single species. They claim that collectors are motivated by greed more than anything because there are many otherwise pristine jungles that have had every orchid removed from them, making many species of orchid extinct in the wild. There is a big difference between removing a few specimens from the wild to ensure that a species never goes extinct and removing every last orchid from an ecosystem that may yet be saved.
Many have argued that overexploitation by humans is an important reason why many animal and plant species are endangered (humans also have an important indirect effect on wildlife and plant populations, due for example, to habitat loss). Many species are considered threatened and have been assigned special status to enhance their chance of survival. Currently the CITES regulates international trade in about 30,000 species in need of special consideration. They believe the worst crime against orchids is poaching and that some are dissatisfied with seeking orchids to view in their natural environment and transplant these plants to their yards or sell them to nurseries for a high price. Those who oppose orchid poaching continue to argue that first of all, removing plants from their natural habitat doesn’t allow anyone else to enjoy their beauty. Secondly, since orchid habitats are so sensitive, they typically die several years after being transplanted into a garden. Not only does this kill the individual plant, it also destroys its chances for reproduction.
Today, many orchids that are extinct in the wild due to habitat destruction continue to grow in greenhouses because of orchid poachers. When collectors believe that an orchid's habitat is on the verge of being completely destroyed, they will rush out to harvest the last orchids from the area. Without the financial incentive of the money to be recouped by selling the salvaged plants, it is very difficult to organize local efforts to collect orchids and other epiphytes prior to a forest's cutting or the construction of a hydroelectric project. Small numbers of plants can be relocated locally, but most suitable relocation sites already host their own flora. When an entire hillside is cut down or an entire valley flooded, the only real recourse for relocation is to move the salvaged stock into cultivation.
It is trade restrictions which endanger orchids and smugglers who preserve the various species for humanity to enjoy forever. Orchid collectors usually believe that CITES goes too far and is too strict in its plant regulations. They have two main problems with CITES. First of all, CITES highly regulates the gathering of orchids from the wild, but according to orchid growers, these regulations actually contribute more to the extinction of wild rare orchids than to their preservation, because under CITES it is either illegal or extremely difficult to remove endangered or rare orchid species from habitats that are being destroyed anyway. CITES does allow some orchids to be removed from the wild if the proper authorities decide that the species will not be harmed. However, this is difficult to do because there is a lot of paperwork to be filled out, which can take months to process. Also, there is no guarantee that authorization will be given. The orchid growers contend that unless CITES makes some concessions to the demand for these rare orchids, smuggling will continue and more species will become extinct.
“Individuals against the poaching of orchids state that primary protection comes from the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna CITES treaty, signed by over 120 nations” (Bulte 21). This treaty stipulates that any species of plant or animal that is endangered cannot be commercially traded. Rare species that are not yet endangered may be removed from the wild and commercially traded, but those who do so must adhere to strict regulations designed to ensure that no more orchid species become endangered or extinct. It is perfectly legal to trade in nursery-produced orchids. Orchid growers may also use seeds or tips of leaves to grow orchid hybrids in their nurseries. Creating the plants in nurseries is known as artificial propagation, and this of course requires modern technology that was not available to the first orchid growers. Modern greenhouses are capable of imitating the temperature, moisture, and wind conditions that orchids thrive upon in the wild. Nursery owners often outdo nature by producing plants superior to those found in the wild healthier and with flowers that are larger and have more interesting colors.
However, if CITES was amended to allow for easier access to a limited number of rare or endangered specimens to be used in artificial propagation, there would be less smuggling and a greater chance that a species could be preserved in the wild. Orchid growers believe that overregulation of orchid trade is what has driven the price of orchids up, which in turn leads to smuggling. Most species of orchids can be bred from seed to produce thousands more plants, or else they can be cloned to produce the same amount. Cloning is a relatively new technique in the orchid world and it means that exact replicas of wild orchids can be produced in nurseries. It is because of the ease of cloning that most orchid growers believe that plants and animals should be treated separately under CITES. Secondly, orchid collectors also contend that some of the orchids protected under CITES are not exactly rare. Some growers want more research into which species are truly threatened and which should no longer be in CITES.
The orchid growers make some legitimate complaints about CITES. Since a single specimen can be cloned into thousands of specimens, it is probably acceptable to allow a very small number of endangered orchids to be used in this manner. It will at least ensure that the species survives. However, deciding who to allow cloning a plant that will be in high demand would be a tricky question. If every rare plant could be made widely available on the open market, smuggling would decline because it is in part dependent on providing access to rare and unique specimens.
When it comes to wildlife, there is a different approach taken, as the animals and birds that are confiscated from poachers are subsequently kept for rehabilitation and even for captive breeding before they are set free again in their natural habitat. However, when orchid plants are confiscated from poachers, they are disposed of, sometimes by destroying them, but most of the time they are abandoned and left to die. Our response to this crisis has been a call for cataloging organisms, rather than saving them. In the end we may know some of what has been lost but that will be poor compensation for the extinction of those organisms. If a significant number of orchid species are to be saved for future generations, the success of those endeavors will not be due to the efforts of governments or institutions. Hope rests with the non-governmental organizations and the voluntary efforts of individual men and women, working in single or in groups, for the survival of their favorite plants. In other words, the orchid societies around the world will be the ones responsible for the continuance of our orchids. As we face the extinction of so many species, our private collections and the disbursement of divisions of those plants will be the only way that orchid species may survive.
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimate that only 10 percent of orchid collectors obtain orchids from the wild” (Lockwood 4). Some orchid growers are quite defensive, saying that the vast majority of law abiding orchid growers must put up with extremely cumbersome regulations because of the actions of the few. Many acknowledge that the orchid world needs to put more emphasis on conservation and to educate collectors about threatened and endangered species. Such work can be accomplished through such organizations as the American Orchid Society, which has created a conservation committee.
If orchids were allowed to be collected, the orchids then could be protected. Many species that otherwise would become extinct would be saved. Ideally, worldwide environmental laws need to be expanded to protect not only the threatened animals and plants, but the necessary habitat needed for their survival. In reality, however, this solution is not currently possible in many parts of the world due to political and economic forces at work in those areas. Collection of orchids from the wild then propagation under artificial conditions is the only viable solution to the ultimate survival of many orchid species. If you could change things, what would you do? Would you leave the situation as it is, the complete ban on collecting of all orchids, or would you allow the collecting in areas that were being destroyed for farmland and other uses? These questions are currently under consideration in many countries. Perhaps the situation will change and the thousands of orchids that are destroyed every day will have the opportunity to survive in a greenhouse.
Works Cited
Bulte, Erwin H., Kootan, Cornelis V. State Intervention to Protect Endangered Species: Why History and Bad Luck Matter. Conservation Biology. 15.6 (2001): 1799-1803. JSTOR. Florida Community College Library, Jacksonville, FL. 18 July 2008.
Nadelmann, Ethan A. Policing the Globe: Criminalization and Crime Control in International Relations. Oxford: New York Oxford University Press, 2006. Electronic Books. Florida Community College Library Jacksonville, FL.18 July 2008.
Jeffries, Mike J. Biodiversity and Conservation. London: New York Taylor & Francis Routledge. 2006. Electronic Books. Florida Community College Library Jacksonville, FL.18 July 2008.
Lockwood, Michael, Worboys, Graeme, Kothari, Ashish. Managing Protected Areas: A Global Guide. Sterling, London: VA Earthscan Publications Ltd., 2006. Electronic Books. Florida Community College Library Jacksonville, FL.18 July 2008.
Those infected by what is known as "orchidelirium" describe a condition not just beyond addiction but beyond hope. The power of orchids to provoke and stimulate the sexual consciousness of humans has long been recognized. Orchids are subtle, delicate, and voluptuous masters of disguise. They take on the shapes, scents and colors that seduce the insects they feed upon. But they are best of all at seducing humans. The craving of orchid fanatics for "trophy" specimens now drives a vast illicit market whose supply routes crisscross the world and which, in many ways, resembles the international trade in drugs and arms.
The role of orchid poachers/smugglers assists in the conservation of orchids. “Poaching is the illegal hunting, fishing or harvesting of wild plants or animals” (Nadelmann 231). Today, strict rules concerning the trade and collection of orchids and other endangered plants exist. Many orchids are extinct from their natural habitat or are in risk of being extinct. Natural areas are changed or destroyed by man (e.g. wood-cutting, irrigation). Orchids are also poached from nature. It's often said that the orchids anyhow will disappear over time. Many reason that “man” should influence nature as little as possible and let the ecosystems stay as they are and that if man would have to influence an ecosystem, there should also be actions taken to prevent a change of the ecosystem.
The purpose of this research paper is to show that poaching and over-exploitation are not the only threat to endangered species. Shrinking habitats, pollution and more recently global warming have all played a role in the endangerment of these species. Human encroachment is a bigger threat than poachers. As open land is developed, forests cut down, and marshes drained, wild orchids lose habitat. Poachers continue to seek out new species from remote areas to satisfy the needs of compulsive collectors; completely denying access to something people strongly desire rarely works. This paper will discuss how the effects of habitat destruction, and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) whose intent is to is to monitor and restrict trade in certain species of fish, wildlife, and plants to protect them from commercial exploitation that might diminish the ability of the species to survive in the wild, and pose a threat to the conservation of orchids.
The big debate is whether smuggling hastens the extinction of wild orchids or whether it helps to preserve them. The head of the Commercial Orchids Guild, Jerry Fisher, acknowledges that “he knows there is a lot of orchid smuggling going on, but he defends orchid collectors with most of the time being very concerned about the preservation of the various species, and he credits them with increasing knowledge about the plants” (Jeffries 54). Orchid collectors believe that the biggest threat to orchids is loss of habitat, specifically rain forests. Most orchids live in rain forests, and as we are all aware, millions of acres of rain forest are cut or burned down every year for mining, timber, farming and development.
It has not been that long ago when you could purchase "jungle collected" plants. Many orchid people thought that the only way to get most of the rare species was through jungle collecting. All that has changed now, with new laws created and enforced in many countries. Some nations are now preventing all collection of orchid species from the wild within their borders. On the surface, the ban against collecting is to be applauded. However, there is a problem with the anti-collection program in many countries. The species are protected but the habitat necessary for their survival is not. As populations increase, greater demands are made on the land. When the land is cleared, the natural habitat of the orchids is also destroyed. Many of you may know that huge sections of rainforest are cleared for the lumber or adapted for farming every day. Virgin mountainous regions are also being adapted for human use. What is the future of the orchid species in these areas? The loss of habitat also means the loss of orchids, including those species that have yet to be discovered.
Since natural habitats are being destroyed so rapidly, it is better for a smuggler to go into the jungle and remove these plants to aid in the prevention of extinction. Orchid growers want to collect more endangered species from the wild to preserve them. Environmentalists, of course, choose to focus on preserving entire ecosystems rather than a single species. They claim that collectors are motivated by greed more than anything because there are many otherwise pristine jungles that have had every orchid removed from them, making many species of orchid extinct in the wild. There is a big difference between removing a few specimens from the wild to ensure that a species never goes extinct and removing every last orchid from an ecosystem that may yet be saved.
Many have argued that overexploitation by humans is an important reason why many animal and plant species are endangered (humans also have an important indirect effect on wildlife and plant populations, due for example, to habitat loss). Many species are considered threatened and have been assigned special status to enhance their chance of survival. Currently the CITES regulates international trade in about 30,000 species in need of special consideration. They believe the worst crime against orchids is poaching and that some are dissatisfied with seeking orchids to view in their natural environment and transplant these plants to their yards or sell them to nurseries for a high price. Those who oppose orchid poaching continue to argue that first of all, removing plants from their natural habitat doesn’t allow anyone else to enjoy their beauty. Secondly, since orchid habitats are so sensitive, they typically die several years after being transplanted into a garden. Not only does this kill the individual plant, it also destroys its chances for reproduction.
Today, many orchids that are extinct in the wild due to habitat destruction continue to grow in greenhouses because of orchid poachers. When collectors believe that an orchid's habitat is on the verge of being completely destroyed, they will rush out to harvest the last orchids from the area. Without the financial incentive of the money to be recouped by selling the salvaged plants, it is very difficult to organize local efforts to collect orchids and other epiphytes prior to a forest's cutting or the construction of a hydroelectric project. Small numbers of plants can be relocated locally, but most suitable relocation sites already host their own flora. When an entire hillside is cut down or an entire valley flooded, the only real recourse for relocation is to move the salvaged stock into cultivation.
It is trade restrictions which endanger orchids and smugglers who preserve the various species for humanity to enjoy forever. Orchid collectors usually believe that CITES goes too far and is too strict in its plant regulations. They have two main problems with CITES. First of all, CITES highly regulates the gathering of orchids from the wild, but according to orchid growers, these regulations actually contribute more to the extinction of wild rare orchids than to their preservation, because under CITES it is either illegal or extremely difficult to remove endangered or rare orchid species from habitats that are being destroyed anyway. CITES does allow some orchids to be removed from the wild if the proper authorities decide that the species will not be harmed. However, this is difficult to do because there is a lot of paperwork to be filled out, which can take months to process. Also, there is no guarantee that authorization will be given. The orchid growers contend that unless CITES makes some concessions to the demand for these rare orchids, smuggling will continue and more species will become extinct.
“Individuals against the poaching of orchids state that primary protection comes from the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna CITES treaty, signed by over 120 nations” (Bulte 21). This treaty stipulates that any species of plant or animal that is endangered cannot be commercially traded. Rare species that are not yet endangered may be removed from the wild and commercially traded, but those who do so must adhere to strict regulations designed to ensure that no more orchid species become endangered or extinct. It is perfectly legal to trade in nursery-produced orchids. Orchid growers may also use seeds or tips of leaves to grow orchid hybrids in their nurseries. Creating the plants in nurseries is known as artificial propagation, and this of course requires modern technology that was not available to the first orchid growers. Modern greenhouses are capable of imitating the temperature, moisture, and wind conditions that orchids thrive upon in the wild. Nursery owners often outdo nature by producing plants superior to those found in the wild healthier and with flowers that are larger and have more interesting colors.
However, if CITES was amended to allow for easier access to a limited number of rare or endangered specimens to be used in artificial propagation, there would be less smuggling and a greater chance that a species could be preserved in the wild. Orchid growers believe that overregulation of orchid trade is what has driven the price of orchids up, which in turn leads to smuggling. Most species of orchids can be bred from seed to produce thousands more plants, or else they can be cloned to produce the same amount. Cloning is a relatively new technique in the orchid world and it means that exact replicas of wild orchids can be produced in nurseries. It is because of the ease of cloning that most orchid growers believe that plants and animals should be treated separately under CITES. Secondly, orchid collectors also contend that some of the orchids protected under CITES are not exactly rare. Some growers want more research into which species are truly threatened and which should no longer be in CITES.
The orchid growers make some legitimate complaints about CITES. Since a single specimen can be cloned into thousands of specimens, it is probably acceptable to allow a very small number of endangered orchids to be used in this manner. It will at least ensure that the species survives. However, deciding who to allow cloning a plant that will be in high demand would be a tricky question. If every rare plant could be made widely available on the open market, smuggling would decline because it is in part dependent on providing access to rare and unique specimens.
When it comes to wildlife, there is a different approach taken, as the animals and birds that are confiscated from poachers are subsequently kept for rehabilitation and even for captive breeding before they are set free again in their natural habitat. However, when orchid plants are confiscated from poachers, they are disposed of, sometimes by destroying them, but most of the time they are abandoned and left to die. Our response to this crisis has been a call for cataloging organisms, rather than saving them. In the end we may know some of what has been lost but that will be poor compensation for the extinction of those organisms. If a significant number of orchid species are to be saved for future generations, the success of those endeavors will not be due to the efforts of governments or institutions. Hope rests with the non-governmental organizations and the voluntary efforts of individual men and women, working in single or in groups, for the survival of their favorite plants. In other words, the orchid societies around the world will be the ones responsible for the continuance of our orchids. As we face the extinction of so many species, our private collections and the disbursement of divisions of those plants will be the only way that orchid species may survive.
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimate that only 10 percent of orchid collectors obtain orchids from the wild” (Lockwood 4). Some orchid growers are quite defensive, saying that the vast majority of law abiding orchid growers must put up with extremely cumbersome regulations because of the actions of the few. Many acknowledge that the orchid world needs to put more emphasis on conservation and to educate collectors about threatened and endangered species. Such work can be accomplished through such organizations as the American Orchid Society, which has created a conservation committee.
If orchids were allowed to be collected, the orchids then could be protected. Many species that otherwise would become extinct would be saved. Ideally, worldwide environmental laws need to be expanded to protect not only the threatened animals and plants, but the necessary habitat needed for their survival. In reality, however, this solution is not currently possible in many parts of the world due to political and economic forces at work in those areas. Collection of orchids from the wild then propagation under artificial conditions is the only viable solution to the ultimate survival of many orchid species. If you could change things, what would you do? Would you leave the situation as it is, the complete ban on collecting of all orchids, or would you allow the collecting in areas that were being destroyed for farmland and other uses? These questions are currently under consideration in many countries. Perhaps the situation will change and the thousands of orchids that are destroyed every day will have the opportunity to survive in a greenhouse.
Works Cited
Bulte, Erwin H., Kootan, Cornelis V. State Intervention to Protect Endangered Species: Why History and Bad Luck Matter. Conservation Biology. 15.6 (2001): 1799-1803. JSTOR. Florida Community College Library, Jacksonville, FL. 18 July 2008
Nadelmann, Ethan A. Policing the Globe: Criminalization and Crime Control in International Relations. Oxford: New York Oxford University Press, 2006. Electronic Books. Florida Community College Library Jacksonville, FL.18 July 2008.
Jeffries, Mike J. Biodiversity and Conservation. London: New York Taylor & Francis Routledge. 2006. Electronic Books. Florida Community College Library Jacksonville, FL.18 July 2008.
Lockwood, Michael, Worboys, Graeme, Kothari, Ashish. Managing Protected Areas: A Global Guide. Sterling, London: VA Earthscan Publications Ltd., 2006. Electronic Books. Florida Community College Library Jacksonville, FL.18 July 2008.
