BIODIVERSITY OF JUNGLES THREATHENED BY ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES

JOHOR BAHARU (Malaysia), Dec 30 (Bernama) -- Illegal activities involving smuggling and sales of rare wild orchids could lead to the extinction of the endangered species and disrupt the biodiversity of Malaysian jungles.

Technical adviser to the Malaysian Nature Society, Vincent Chow said such
illegal activities must be curbed to ensure that such species do not disappear
from existence.

"In Johor, traders of wild orchids are now focused on a species that grows
in the high grounds of Gunung Belumut and Gunung Ledang. We must put a stop to
such activities or lose our heritage in the jungles," he told Bernama here
Monday.

According to Vincent, smuggling and illegal sales of a wild orchid species
in Gunung Panti near Kota Tinggi had resulted in the extinction of the species.

He said the most sort after wild orchid species was the "Paphiopedilum
Barbatum" which can fetch prizes ranging from RM5,000 to RM10,000 a plant.

"Smuggling wild orchids and selling them to international clients through
the internet has become a lucrative business and blinded by the money involved,
people are willing to compromise the biodiversity of our jungles," he said.

Orchid lovers are willing to buy wild orchids through the internet even
though such practice was illegal under the United Nations' "Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora" (CITES),"
said Vincent.
--BERNAMA