Publications
The Garden
May 2003
Conservation
Cactus rustling
Illegal collection of cacti is threatening the future of the Chihuahuan Desert, a region of outstanding biodiversity, home to almost a quarter of the 1,500 cactus species known to science.
The problem has been revealed in a new study by TRAFFIC (Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce), the wildlife trade monitoring network.
A disproportionate number of rare species are being collected, which could become extinct in the wild. The fashion for low-water landscaping projects, where quantities of cacti such as Carnegia gigantea (left) are used, is exacerbating the threat.
Image: WWWF-Canon/Jo Benn
Christopher Robbins, a traffic botanist and author of the report said: ‘If demand for cacti from the Chihuahuan Desert is not reduced, we run the risk of destabilising populations and losing species. In some situations, removing the cacti can be as disruptive to the ecosystem as clear-cutting a forest’.
Most of the Chihuahuan Desert lies in Mexico and extends into west Texas, southern New Mexico and south-eastern Arizona. The region has a high number of endemic, endangered and newly discovered species of cacti, which are highly sought after by foreign collectors. Demand for new cactus species is so high that when Geohintonia mexicana and Aztekium hintonii were discovered in the early 1990s, plants and seed became available before they had been formally described.
Nigel Taylor, Curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and a world authority on cacti, said that the Mexican authorities are being proactive in combating the problem. ‘Regular arrests have been made of foreign nationals caught collecting plants and seeds, even tiny quantities.’
TRAFFIC was established by the World Wild Fund For Nature and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The report Prickly Trade: Trade and Conservation of Chihuahuan Desert Cacti is available online at: www.traffic.org/news/press-releases/prickly_trade.html
Cycads stolen to order
An unemployed South African man faces a R5,000 (£400) fine or five years in prison after he was caught stealing cycads.
Carel Ferreira, 46, was stopped by the police in December 2002 and was found to be carrying 25 cycads in the back of his truck. The plants were more than 1m (39in) high and are thought to be either Encephalartos altensteinii or E. princeps - both endangered species - and have been seized by the state. Charged with collecting cycads without a permit, the defendant said he was ‘doing it for someone in Randfontein’.
In sentencing, Magistrate Zwelityazusa Ngoqu said, ‘God blessed the Eastern Cape with cycads and this province is not going to allow people from Gauteng to remove what nature has provided us.
Legislation
SSSI prosecution
A 30-year-old Hampshire man was fined £4,000 in February for causing damage to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Initiated by English Nature, the prosecution is the first under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 for third-party damage to an SSSI.
Sutton Lane Meadows SSSI, in north Wiltshire, has large colonies of Dactylorhiza praetermissa (southern marsh orchid) and Orchis morio (green-winged orchid, left), a small colony of Colchicum autumnale (meadow saffron) and retains its ridge-and-furrow earthworks.
Image: Martin Page
Andrew Wickens, of Bramley, Hampshire, admitted reckless damage to an area of nationally important grassland by dumping spoil from an adjacent pond on top of the marsh orchid colony. He must now restore the site to its condition prior to the damage.
Andy Clements, Operations Director of English Nature, said, ‘This case shows we are prepared to use enforcement powers where necessary. It demonstrates that the new powers carry heavier penalties that should act as a deterrent to anyone thinking about damaging our wildlife sites.’
The SSSI scheme was introduced in 1949 to help preserve the best of Britain’s sites of biological or geological interest.
Bluebell survey
Bluebells for Britain is a national survey, organised this spring by Plantlife and the Botanical Society of the British Isles, and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The survey aims to discover how native Hyacinthoides non-scripta (bluebell) has been affected by hybridisation with the more dominant H. hispanica (Spanish bluebell), which is widely grown in gardens.
Up to half the world’s bluebell population can be found in the UK, thriving in areas of deciduous woodland, but bluebells are now under threat globally.
Survey forms should be returned by 1 July or entered online at www.plantlife.org.uk For more information, tel: 020 7808 0118.
Broccoli stays green and firm
Scientists are currently researching the problem of floppy broccoli to help plant breeders develop crops that stay green and firm for longer.
Britain’s most popular green vegetable has a shelf life of just two days, after which time it loses its visual and textural appeal.
However, scientists at Horticultural Research International (HRI) Wellesbourne have found that growing conditions before harvest, including water stress and temperature, as well as genetic differences contribute to broccoli’s premature yellowing and tendency to become floppy. As part of a four-year study funded by DEFRA, they will consider which cultural methods can be adopted to extend the crop’s shelf life.
Project leader David Pink said, ‘We hope the work being carried out at HRI will allow plant breeders to develop new cultivars that retain their looks, flavour and nutrients for longer.’
Exotic caterpillar hitches a ride
An exotic-looking caterpillar was found for the first time in the UK, in a Somerset garden centre. The nine caterpillars were feeding on Dypsis lutescens (areca palms), imported from Holland, and were noticed after a woman was ‘stung’. A digital photograph was referred to Warren Spencer, Head of Invertebrates at Bristol Zoo.
The striking caterpillar is thought to be the larval stage of the saddleback moth (Sibine stimulea), but identification can only be confirmed when the adult moths have emerged. Saddleback moth caterpillars occur naturally in the United States, where it is a recognised pest. It grows to about 2.5cm (1in) long and bears tan-coloured spines that can give the unwary a nasty sting and may cause a painful skin rash.
The caterpillars are now being raised on a diet of bramble leaves.
Andrew Halstead, Principal Entomologist at RHS Garden Wisley, said, ‘Imported plants bring with them the risk of exotic pests and diseases. Gardeners should be alert and report any unusual insects to the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate division of DEFRA, tel: 01904 455174.
Curtains for creosote
From 30 June it will be illegal to sell creosote or any wood products that have been treated with it including second-hand railway sleepers and fence panels.
The European Commission adopted the new directive on 26 October 2001 after the EU scientific committee concluded that creosote, which contains benzo-a-pyrene, had a greater potential to cause cancer than was originally thought.
Creosote can still be used for industrial applications, such as telegraph poles and railway sleepers, but there are stricter restrictions on its composition. The legislation will be enforced by trading standards, and legal action can be taken against anyone selling creosote.
More information is available from the Department of Trade and Industry, tel: 020 7215 5000; or visit the website: www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/ consultpdf/creosote.htm
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