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“Invisible” wildlife trades: Southeast Asia’s undocumented illegal trade in wild ornamental plants

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“Invisible” wildlife trades: Southeast Asia’s undocumented illegal trade in wild ornamental plants. / Phelps, Jacob Wesley; Webb, Edward L.
In: Biological Conservation, Vol. 186, 01.06.2015, p. 296-305.

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Phelps JW, Webb EL. “Invisible” wildlife trades: Southeast Asia’s undocumented illegal trade in wild ornamental plants. Biological Conservation. 2015 Jun 1;186:296-305. Epub 2015 Apr 16. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2015.03.030

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@article{6daa87d666244dcf8aef7009cda8108d,
title = "“Invisible” wildlife trades: Southeast Asia{\textquoteright}s undocumented illegal trade in wild ornamental plants",
abstract = "Conservation and environmental management often rely heavily on official statistics, but there are often concerns over accuracy and reliability, particularly true when dealing with sensitive issues such as illegal harvest and trade. A growing number of cases highlight commercial trades in wild flora and fauna that have been undocumented in official data. Here we present the first in-depth study of the trade of wild-collected ornamental plants in continental Southeast Asia, focusing on the four largest wildlife markets in Thailand. Botanical surveys revealed a massive, previously undocumented commercial trade in wild, protected ornamental plants involving Thailand, Lao PDR and Myanmar, focusing primarily on the Orchidaceae. The results indicate that illegal trade threatens not only charismatic Southeast Asian mammals, reptiles and amphibians, but also hundreds of tropical plant species. Trade surveys identified 347 orchid species in 93 genera, including many listed as threatened. The observed cross-border trade moves plants at a rate orders of magnitude larger than government-reported statistics, and directly conflicts with official policy statement. Harvester interviews strongly indicated that wild collection was negatively affecting the majority of species they traded. Despite three decades of broad restrictions on the international trade of all wild orchids, these results highlight a major conservation challenge that has been almost completely overlooked. There is urgent need to improve botanical trade monitoring, to operationalize existing conservation commitments, and as part of a broader, multifaceted response to illegal trade. We call for increased attention to botanical trade and conservation in Southeast Asia, and argue that efforts to tackle illegal wildlife trade must ensure they include flora.",
keywords = "CITES, Orchid, Thailand, Market, Botanical conservation",
author = "Phelps, {Jacob Wesley} and Webb, {Edward L.}",
year = "2015",
month = jun,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1016/j.biocon.2015.03.030",
language = "English",
volume = "186",
pages = "296--305",
journal = "Biological Conservation",
issn = "0006-3207",
publisher = "Elsevier Ltd",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - “Invisible” wildlife trades

T2 - Southeast Asia’s undocumented illegal trade in wild ornamental plants

AU - Phelps, Jacob Wesley

AU - Webb, Edward L.

PY - 2015/6/1

Y1 - 2015/6/1

N2 - Conservation and environmental management often rely heavily on official statistics, but there are often concerns over accuracy and reliability, particularly true when dealing with sensitive issues such as illegal harvest and trade. A growing number of cases highlight commercial trades in wild flora and fauna that have been undocumented in official data. Here we present the first in-depth study of the trade of wild-collected ornamental plants in continental Southeast Asia, focusing on the four largest wildlife markets in Thailand. Botanical surveys revealed a massive, previously undocumented commercial trade in wild, protected ornamental plants involving Thailand, Lao PDR and Myanmar, focusing primarily on the Orchidaceae. The results indicate that illegal trade threatens not only charismatic Southeast Asian mammals, reptiles and amphibians, but also hundreds of tropical plant species. Trade surveys identified 347 orchid species in 93 genera, including many listed as threatened. The observed cross-border trade moves plants at a rate orders of magnitude larger than government-reported statistics, and directly conflicts with official policy statement. Harvester interviews strongly indicated that wild collection was negatively affecting the majority of species they traded. Despite three decades of broad restrictions on the international trade of all wild orchids, these results highlight a major conservation challenge that has been almost completely overlooked. There is urgent need to improve botanical trade monitoring, to operationalize existing conservation commitments, and as part of a broader, multifaceted response to illegal trade. We call for increased attention to botanical trade and conservation in Southeast Asia, and argue that efforts to tackle illegal wildlife trade must ensure they include flora.

AB - Conservation and environmental management often rely heavily on official statistics, but there are often concerns over accuracy and reliability, particularly true when dealing with sensitive issues such as illegal harvest and trade. A growing number of cases highlight commercial trades in wild flora and fauna that have been undocumented in official data. Here we present the first in-depth study of the trade of wild-collected ornamental plants in continental Southeast Asia, focusing on the four largest wildlife markets in Thailand. Botanical surveys revealed a massive, previously undocumented commercial trade in wild, protected ornamental plants involving Thailand, Lao PDR and Myanmar, focusing primarily on the Orchidaceae. The results indicate that illegal trade threatens not only charismatic Southeast Asian mammals, reptiles and amphibians, but also hundreds of tropical plant species. Trade surveys identified 347 orchid species in 93 genera, including many listed as threatened. The observed cross-border trade moves plants at a rate orders of magnitude larger than government-reported statistics, and directly conflicts with official policy statement. Harvester interviews strongly indicated that wild collection was negatively affecting the majority of species they traded. Despite three decades of broad restrictions on the international trade of all wild orchids, these results highlight a major conservation challenge that has been almost completely overlooked. There is urgent need to improve botanical trade monitoring, to operationalize existing conservation commitments, and as part of a broader, multifaceted response to illegal trade. We call for increased attention to botanical trade and conservation in Southeast Asia, and argue that efforts to tackle illegal wildlife trade must ensure they include flora.

KW - CITES

KW - Orchid

KW - Thailand

KW - Market

KW - Botanical conservation

U2 - 10.1016/j.biocon.2015.03.030

DO - 10.1016/j.biocon.2015.03.030

M3 - Journal article

VL - 186

SP - 296

EP - 305

JO - Biological Conservation

JF - Biological Conservation

SN - 0006-3207

ER -