2005 Dijon WOC Pics!!!

Slipperhead · #1 03-13-2005, 05:14 PM

I ran across these very nice photos of the Dijon WOC earlier today. This is an interesting site to peruse! There are some nice phrag and species photos along with the large and complex displays! Enjoy!

http://offpollen.typepad.com/pollena...try/index.html

Piper · #2 03-13-2005, 08:34 PM

Wonderful pics, Garland! Thanks for posting. I couldn't get past the articles on the Marie Selby Institute in Sarasota - they've grabbed a new phrag from Peru. Illegally, of course. It's gorgeus. But that's not the point. [WARNING - thread stealing in progress!]

Epi. Ilsense was collected by Selby in the last decade or so. When the collectors (ie, orchid theives) went back, the area was deforested and the naturally occurring plant was extinct (possibly). That could argue for collecters violating international law on exporting endangered species (CITES). Yet, collectors don't think of preservation. They care about ownership. Many raze a natural site, so that no one else may collect the orchid.

I'm reading an incredible book at the moment, 'The Race to Save the Lord God Bird', by Phillip Hoose. It's about the probable extinction of the ivory-bill woodpecker. It's a tear jerker. For several hundred years, new world explorers and even ornitholigists have recoginized the IB's unique place in the New World bird order. Yet the more enthralled they were - even those seeking to prove it still lived - the more samples they shot when they found them.

'To have' counts more than to preserve. I think it's a chilling lesson for orchid collectors. We want the new, the weird, the 'can't haves', as those before have lusted after an exclusive collection. But please not at the cost of a species. It's happening with orchids. We need to be aware and not contribute to the problem.

Ok, sermon done...no sympathy for Selby.

Julie

LJA · #3 03-13-2005, 08:37 PM

Cool site, Garland. I like the way that woman thinks!

LJA · #4 03-13-2005, 08:43 PM

Marie Selby Gardens had to pay a hefty fine for that one... kovachii, though, will be making it's first legal debut into the US over the next few months. It's being exported into Europe first, and then coming here. We're supposed to be getting a flask or two--we'll see how things go....

MikeWA · #5 03-22-2005, 08:18 PM

OK I have to digree about Kovach. There was no way he could have brought that plant back legally. EVER! Everyone agrees that is true. He brought back a few plants. This did not hurt that species. What did hurt that species is the fact there was a market for it and the only way to get the plants was illegally. Still is in the states. I say flood the market with seedlings!

CITES was NOT intended for orchids. This is obvious.

The interesting thing is everytime they have a meeting to discuss CITES, the RHS and the AOS just provide information. With all the money those freakin societies get you would think they had some lobbying clout. I think they would rather spend it on their Taj Majal and board members salaries.

OK sore spot. I am still trying to see what benefits the AOS provides for the orchid world.

Nice link BTW!