Commercial sales of protected plants
J.E. Shields (Sat, 22 Dec 2007 07:36:17 PST)

The Huntington Botanic Gardens near Los Angeles, California, has a
marvelous collection of large barrel cacti, most of which were handed over
to them by conservation officers, customs agents, etc., after confiscation
of the plants as stolen or smuggled. I don't know if they propagate these
confiscated species from seeds at the Huntington or not. They do attempt
to propagate some of their rare species of plants.

I have assumed that many botanic gardens are designated to receive plants
confiscated by the government for lack of proper documentation. Does
anyone know if this is true of other gardens besides the Huntington?

Documenting populations by their DNA is a limited reality already, but this
method is still far too expensive and cumbersome for widespread use. It is
surely just around the corner for just this purpose.

In South Africa, the native populations are somewhat exempted from the
conservation laws when they collect plants for use as traditional herbal
medicines or "muthi." This is endangering many rare species. Attempts to
propagate such species in cultivation and thereby take the pressure off the
natural wild populations simply led to the "discovery" that the wild plants
were far more "potent" for muthi than the cultivated plants. You can see
these plants (both sorts) on sale in the local markets.

There are not any simple, easy solutions to preserving rare and endangered
plants and animals. There is however a basic rule of the universe: Simple
solutions to complex problems are always wrong!

Best wishes,
Jim Shields
in central Indiana (USA)

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Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA