(MY) sell slipper orchids

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2007/04/14-New Straits Times

 

Let us sell slipper orchids, growers plead

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By : Siti Nurbaiyah Nadzmi

 

 

There are more than 100 types of slipper orchids or paphiopedilum

growing in the tropical highlands of Malaysia and Borneo.They are

classified as endangered species.

There are more than 100 types of slipper orchids or paphiopedilum

growing in the tropical highlands of Malaysia and Borneo.They are

classified as endangered species.

 

JOHOR BARU: Local orchid growers are losing millions to their European

competitors.

While the sale of the rare slipper orchid, a Malaysian horticultural

treasure, is banned here, European growers have commercially produced

the species from plants smuggled out of Borneo and Malaysia.

 

In view of this, the Commercial Orchid Growers of Malaysia is urging

the authorities to lift the ban on the sale of slipper orchids to

enable local growers to tap the lucrative market.

 

" It is possible to propagate slipper orchids in the laboratory. All we

need is the right technique and know-how, " said its president Wong

Kiang Ho.

 

Wong said by lifting the ban, the wild species could continue to

thrive in their natural habitat and the illegal trade could be curbed.

" The foreigners are making tonnes of money propagating slipper orchid,

which comes from our forests, but we, the local growers, are deprived

from selling what is rightly ours. "

 

There are more than 100 types of slipper orchids or paphiopedilum

growing in the tropical highlands of Malaysia and Borneo. They are

classified as endangered species.

 

Among the most popular are the Paphiopedilum sanderianum from the Mulu

National Park, Sarawak; Paphiopedilum rothschildianum from Kota

Kinabalu Park; and Paphiopdilum barbatum from Gunung Ledang National

Park, Johor.

 

Wild slipper orchids are sold illegally online for between RM3,800 and

RM5,000, depending on their origin.

 

Wong said the illegal trade was carried out by individuals and not syndicates.

 

" It is not easy to look for and collect wild slipper orchids. The

species also do not survive the humidity of the lowlands.

 

" It is better for the government to legalise the sale of commercially

grown slipper orchids and brand them as ours. "

 

Last year, scientist Dr Lim Sian Tiong was jailed 50 months after he

attempted to smuggle 126 rare and protected slipper orchids into

Britain.

 

Lim was caught by British customs officers after he flew to London's

Heathrow Airport from Kuala Lumpur. The plants were hidden in the

luggage.