Re: News from the Jungle

From: "Ron Iles" roniles at eircom.net> on 2001.05.17 at 15:37:54(6490) Dear Jim, Your thoughtful advice is highly appreciated. Smuggling breaks national and international law and rightfully invites re-tribution and deserves punishment. "Ornamental" fish and other fauna are ravished for export greed and profit in astronomic quantities to "westernised" countries for peanuts for the usual profit and greed. If I was a poor and exploited native who was paid peanuts to survive a sub-subsistence life in an origin country, I would be EXTREMELY hostile to "collectors" in my back yard, to those who clear and burn it for meats for the rich, and to ALL those who exploit me without humanity. I might even be one of those who grow drugs in retaliation and resentment as well as for a little money from my leaders. For the sake of global stability and survival of ALL Nature, the collection of small SAMPLES of flora and fauna needs to be WELCOMED because it does backyard owners GOOD. Until that perception is justified, "THEY" are often right to veto everything and extract the highest reciprocal price from the white devils. When WE make it BETTER for them to keep their Jungle and use it for benign sustainable purposes then we might expect to be welcomed provided we BUY from them at fair market (at this desperate stage, very high) price. We cannot expect to take thousands of rare plants worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, for little or nothing, or even ONE plant if it is worth multi-millions to the International pharmaceuticals or for the fossil energy exhausting billion acre greenhouse industry. Costa Rica allows export of millions of farmed butterflies and sometimes maybe unendangered collected species because their history has been far more benign and civilised and their country has not been quite as ravished by heartless gringos. One has with cause to pay premium price to compensate for our own mean uncaring greed for EVERYTHING from THEIR back yard. No, its time for the privileged to get real and look at global ENVIRONMENTAL and poor countries economic balance sheets. Stop expecting to TAKE after "giving" with the hidden agendas of massively taking. Maybe a few people of widest vision and highest integrity WILL be able to get permission for Ark material to be BOUGHT and taken out of their countries. Far from getting a free meal, Gringos will rightly have to pay through their justly bloodied noses for their privileges and lusts. But ever increasing hordes of nominal "ecotourist" rampaging the backyards and taking FREE what they want. No way and rightly so. 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. Having listened to so many people who have first hand experience, I believe "eco-travellers" need most sensitively just to visit, watch, shut up and listen, or pack up ang go away. You gringos may not like this but if you want other Countries not to do to their Countries what you do to yours, then its time for your re-education, a traumatic change of heart and tiny mindset. Poor (and I mean POOR in the money sense only people deserve a happy life too and rightly couldn't care a damn now about how you poor little rich people who want what they've got for their playpens. You gotta PAY and PAY WELL as you always should have done so that they feel good about YOU. The days of subserviant and compliant slaves existing for the First World are going. If WE don't get this into our thick heads, then all of us gringos and our manic commercial mentors will go down in the sinking ship. If you want to save the Natural Planet, without any more pussy footing, start REALLY caring, REALLY sharing, else everybody will very nastily and very soon go down fighting each other to swim in the sinking ship. The richer you are the less you'll like this. Sorry, but sometimes things have to be said. The collecting of treasures is rightly the responsibility of genuine experts, here professional Botanists, not profit motivated looters and speculative art lovers. If you want treasures for yourselves, pay the proper price and make the contracts legitimate, truthful and open. When I go to a Host Country I pay for the privilege as generously as I can and above that try to give of myself. I am always welcomed back and my hosts and I like each other! Forthrightly Ron +More ----- Original Message ----- To: "Multiple recipients of list AROID-L" Sent: Friday, May 11, 2001 9:52 PM Subject: Re: News from the Jungle | In a message dated 05/11/2001 2:44:33 PM Eastern Daylight Time, | edggon@hotmail.com writes: | | << Ron... In some places (including Brazil), sending living plants without | the almost-impossible-to-have permits is now considered a crime, and people | can be arrested for it. After March this year things have become dangerous | around here. I has heard that things are now the same in Colombia. As an | active plant collector (I also have a compreensive collection of some | genera) I am not happy with this. I only want to make you know that the | danger sometimes is not in the jungle... It is at the luggage inspection at | the airports! Keep you eyes opened!!! >> | | Dear Eduardo, Ron, et al., | | This list is an international assemblage but I wanted to add to what Eduardo | said above for the benefit of US citizens. Under a very broad-based Lacey Act | if you collect plants illegally in a foreign jurisdiction and return with | them, you have committed a criminal act in the US as well. The penalties are | fearsome both economically and in jail time. | | You are at risk of apprehension at both the departure and arrival airport! | | Jim Langhammer |

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