In response to comments from everyone re. conservation of cps
worldwide, I'm very much in favour of seed collection AND the keeping of
good location data which is very important for reintroduction
purposes.Cps and their habitats can not been seen in isolation, but as
communities that sustain other rare and endangered plants and animals.
I also think that the major keys to conserving these plants is to have
local support(in order to keep an eye on populations and to gain a
better understanding of management practices used in the past), to keep
it simple and be able to act fast. I recently attended the huge IUCN
World Conservation Congress in Montreal and they were talking about the
fact that decentralisation and grassroot movements are the way ahead.
If they've only just cottoned on to this fact then we are all in big
trouble!!!
I have had the opportunity to work with the marvellous team at Atlanta
Botanical Garden and they have addressed many of the conservation
needs of cps in the south-eastern USA in a very simple and organised
manner. Unfortunately, larger organisations can often get bogged down
in the bureaucracy and are overstretched as each regional office has such a
large catchment area to cover. However, their membership base is very
important to instil fear in policy makers and corporate giants that
only address environmental
problems when Joe Public starts a campaign or takes to the streets
e.g. Shell in Nigeria. I hope we can address many of these factors in Atlanta
next May at the International CP Conference so see you all there.
Mad
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Madeleine Groves
IUCN/SSC Carnivorous Plant Specialist Group (CPSG)
c/o Conventions and Policy Section
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Richmond
Surrey TW9 3AE
Tel:+44-(0)181-332-5743
Fax:+44-(0)181-332-5757
Email: M.Groves@rbgkew.org.uk