Re: CITES

Philip F. Wight (pwight@rahul.net)
Fri, 11 Nov 1994 06:10:29 -0800 (PST)

Jan - right on. Actually, it is forums such as this one which have the
duty - the obligation - to search for another answer. If orchids are
coming off CITES - does anyone know why? Was it the Paph. delenatii
debacle in Vietnam or a combination of things?

Incidentally, the aforementioned paph used to be terribly pricy when it
was first reintroduced in the USA. Today it commands the same $15-20
price of any other paph, brought on, no doubt, by the fanatical race
between breeders to reproduce the flower in the millions.

The same could be the "salvation" of cps. I understand that mericloning
is either unsuccessful or very difficult, which makes mass production
difficult, and I guess that seed cultivation is considered a long-time
thing, but something like this must be undertaken. When those super-rare
and expensive plants are available to hobbyists at a reasonable price,
the pressure on natural habitat will simply fade away.

I hope that people with more knowlege and experience with cps (which
includes just about all of you, no doubt) will add their two cents worth
to the discussion: I think it's a worthwhile cause.

Cheers,
Phil