south african amaryllids
Kipp McMichael (Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:30:57 PDT)

Greetings,

Now that Ms. Saunders has stated unequivocally that selling rescue bulbs is illegal in South Africa, I will inquire further into the situation of the supplier who offered these bulbs. I was under the impression that the South African government does have in place procedures that allow limited sale of properly documented rescue material (such is the case here in the US, for instance).

Hopefully I can uncover whether these truly are rescue bulbs, rather than merely poached bulbs being sold with a rescue cover story. The money to be made in selling rescue bulbs can, on the one hand, encourage people to plunder bulbs under no threat. It can also, however, allow excess capacity (and by all measures development in South Africa continues to outpace the ability for conservators to relocate threatened plants) to be dispersed to those with an interest in establishing non-wild sources for these bulbs.

All South African suppliers, both those "proven and known for a long
time" and those who prove to be disreputable, require payment for their
merchandise. In dealing with foreign suppliers, a certain amount of
trust is necessary for any kind of trade to occur. The best that we can
do is to take note of and selectively patronize those who display
ethical business practices.

To put it another way, I will not choose to be party to supporting, directly or indirectly, the indiscriminate plundering of wild populations of any of the plants I grow. I am not troubled, however, by the notion that ethically rescued bulbs may sometimes be sold to interested parties.

-|<ipp