Re: News from what remains of the Jungle

From: Betsy Feuerstein ecuador at midsouth.rr.com> on 2001.05.20 at 03:53:21(6528) Yes, both can happen. We can get the plants we so love, and the little guy can collect from to be destroyed or altered terrain and all can be better off in the deal. And yes, you are right, the governments cannot comprehend that they themselves are the biggest culprits in the destruction of their own ecology. No one wants to take responsibility and all want to blame. While I want the forest to stay and be for the future, if that is not to happen, let's find ways like this to make as much of the plant material to be saved and propagated and released. That is the costly end. When money passes hands for the product which it is at that point, those down the line in both directions are supported with what they need and want. The growers are financially supported, the collectors are supported, the plant collectors either commercial or hobby are getting what they want. Why is this so difficult to be understood? Perhaps it is that very few truly know the massive destruction of the areas in question and that authority has ideas of survival that do not foster preservation and sustanence. Reality check, what is, is and we best come to grips quick or in the end, the land is worthless, the little guy moves on to start yet again and more is destroyed. Learn to see the asset in the forest itself and this can have a light at the end of the tunnel, all be it small at this time. Good luck with your venture. I wish you well. Keep your botanical data to make the botanists happy if at all possible. (Are you from Brazil? or just a dedicated lover of plants settled on the plantdom of Brazil?) Betsy +More Floral Artistry wrote: > Ron, > I think you have lost part of the equation here. Millions of plants are gone > because people have become indignant and will not allow material to be wild > collected. Millions of acres are slashed and burned every hour. You should > read into this "burned" as being completely unavailable to anyone but God. > There is no way we can bring this material back. The Brazilian government > has adapted a red line law that is emphatic about wild material. They can > not get it through their thick heads about the fact that it is their own > ignorance that is destroying these plants. > They need to adapt a collection and preserve mentality to at least remove > plants after the trees have been slashed and move the material to growing > facilities and grown on and when strong enough, sell to the world market. > I'm not talking "white gringo greed" here. I'm talking practical solutions > to save the very same plants you would like to have. > And, just for your info, if it were not for greedy collectors in the early > part of last century, Your garden would be a very boring thing. You would > have none of the foods you enjoy, none of the trees you enjoy and none of > the medications you so seem to think are the result of greed. Many of these > medications have saved millions of lives a year. I do not agree with the way > they are marketed and marked up unnecessarily but the fact remains that we > have them. > "I am beginning to wonder if I should ask expert native > > BOTANISTS to collect and supply tiny samples for this Ark at FULL PRICE > and > when I visit their Countries to do so to observe, support THEM and help > WITHOUT collecting. " > > There are very few expert native botanists. They just don't exist. I'm not > being condescending. I'm being realistic. And another realistic note, in the > countries we are speaking of (Brazil in particular) the masses of poor you > so wish to save are as ignorant about the value of the plants I wish to > acquire as they are about what fair market value is. Their economy is so out > of whack that fair value/legalities/decent living is very confusing. > > And just FYI, it is very easy to get legal material out of Brazil. I do it > every month. And each plant shipment is government documented, inspected, > and approved. There is protocol and that must be followed. I have been lucky > to find several friends in Brazil who are as concerned about the native > plants to be sensible to cultivate and export. All the plants that I have > received are from cultivated material produced from years of growing from > either seeds, cuttings, or division. I am in the process of setting up a > growing area/production facility in Brazil to produce mass quantities of > native flora, everything from Aroids, bulbs, flowering trees, and palms to > gingers and heliconias. It is merely a matter of time to get the monies > together. The Brazilian permits are all lined up and ready to go. This would > not only sustain Brazilian natives (if only in the cultivated sense because > their "natives" will destroy the wild forms) but also educate the employees > as well as supply them will decent housing and income. > > John Ingram

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