Although I believe in conservation by distribution & have seen over & over rare plants removed from endangered lists because of these distributions, I totally agree with your messages I think the answer is good research before we buy a product & considering who or what we are supporting, so we can make our best effort to avoid compound exploitation of rare commodities. It is greatly disturbing to see some countries are reluctant to act or make much stance against exploitation of rare plants or animals etc. I was in Japan once & saw a product hidden away in a little market shop, the main ingredient was Tigers Pancreas. In Switzerland I saw a Gorillas hand ash tray which devastated me, & I was in an antique store & saw an elephants foot as an umbrella stand. Nothing is sacred ! Steven On 29/12/2011, at 9:51 AM, Alberto Castillo <ezeizabotgard@hotmail.com> wrote: > > " I don't want to sound pessimistic, or cast aspersions on an ethnic group, >> but my son works in east Asia and says that in terms of the mindset there >> we can forget about preserving endangered species so long as one person >> with enough money believes the last living individual will convey some >> traditional benefit that he (paternalistic societies here) wants." > > In other words, we are the cause of the demise of many species by supporting with our money the collecting of rare species for sale. And they even claim they sell rare unique species that grow in a single hill and even so we keep on supporting them. > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/