Orchid Extinction Threat Writ Large

Ramesh Prasad Bhushal 

Kathmandu, Nepal

Nepal boasts more than four hundred species of the orchids, but lack of awareness and increasing market demand has endangered these rare species. Although the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) bans trade in orchids, the absence of a monitoring authority has led to widespread trade in the flower. Bhakta Bahadur Raskoti — who authored ‘The Orchids of Nepal’ after ten years of extensive research — said there is no barrier to orchid trade. While the locals sell it openly, contractors easily send the flower to India, China and even Japan and European countries. “Locals collect various species from the forests and sell to contractors at throwaway prices. They neither know about their value nor the high market value,” said Raskoti. Nepal occupies only 0.1 percent of the land in the world but has with 6,500 species of flowering plants that make for two percent of the total flowering plants in the world. Orchids are the largest plant family in the country and accounts about 6 percent of the total flora of Nepal. This makes the country an ‘Orchid Paradise’. Raskoti has taken 900 photographs of 302 species in the last decade. Resource crunch and lack of access to the districts has virtually disabled the Department of Plant Resources. “We are the authoritative body to look after medicinal and other herbs, but we neither have resources nor district offices, so it’s not possible to monitor the trade,” said Dr Krishna Chandra Paudel, Director General of the department. According to Raskoti, beside medicinal value, orchids possess very high ornamental value. Hence their high market value in Japan and other European countries. During field trips covering a period of 10 years, he recorded 15 new species of orchids in Nepal. “Orchid distribution is extremely limited in range and their habitat has been heavily deforested in recent days, largely due to fodder, firewood and timber collection and overgrazing. Effects of climate change has increased the risk of extinction of many species of orchids,”said Raskoti.