Bush Fire

[plantlover]

OMG my mom works in an oil palm company!! This is what they do to neps!! Poor plants.

[Marigoldsfail21]

But its only NEAR the plantation right? They won't necessarily be using expensive chemicals on property that isn't part of the plantation.

[rsivertsen]

It's things like this that illustrate how important it is to harvest a few cuttings and/or seed of these plants before wholesale habitat destruction wipes out the entire population. If this site is slated for development or farming, all those plants are doomed. We'll probably see more of this in the future, unfortunately. - Rich

[Marigoldsfail21]

We don't even know if the owners of the plantation are planning to buy and develop the land yet. Perhaps someone should contact the plantation and ask about it.

[rsivertsen]

Originally Posted by Marigoldsfail21

We don't even know if the owners of the plantation are planning to buy and develop the land yet. Perhaps someone should contact the plantation and ask about it.

Good luck in getting an honest and favorable response! Chances are if they knew that there were people looking at (and interested in) the plants that they burned to the ground, they will probably fence off the entire area and restrict anyone from coming anywhere near the place! I've seen it myself in my own country. - Rich

[Marigoldsfail21]

Just ask about the property; no need to mention plants yet.

If the bush is just being burnt every so often so wild boars don't nest like Wong said, then we don't need to worry about collecting seed/cuttings from the area. Maybe someone should spread some seed of local neps around in that area so they grow back better.

[marvin1997]

Huh?Throwing seeds around?

[bactrus]

I am too in the Palm Oil Industry. Yes, the spraying is only withing the boundaries of the plantation and correctly pointed out the it is costly to maintain outside the area of interest.

Best way to conserve these lowlanders is to relocate those plants to safe areas. I am trying to interest the plantation managers to planting the plants in their compound.

Worldwide pressure for food crop is pushing the boundaries of wild forest backwards. We have to acknowledge that there is a severe shortage of food around the world. Malaysian flora and fauna are not the ones under thread. Worldwide, farmers are planting more crops to cater for ever increasing demand. Science has advanced crop production to a very prodictive level but more land is still needed.

As Richard correctly pointed out, worldwide survival of plant species, espeically none vigorous ones, lies in the hands of collectors, research facilities. Coming to CPs, as private collectors and enthusiast, I think we have to try preserve the germplasm by collecting the cuttings plants and/or some seeds (yes from the wild) especially the more vulnerable areas. In Pitcherplant forum, it is pointed that the newly discovered N. attenboroughii and N. bokorensis are under thread.

So what is the your opinion? What to do? On one hand to leave it to nature and on the other should be collect some?

[NepNut]

I think if you ask a regular Joe or Jane what they know about Nepenthes... they will most probably scratching their head... but if you ask them if they know what is "monkey cup", they'll probably recognize what you're talking about... What I'm trying to say is most people don't really care about what will happen to the wild population of nepenthes except few that really adore them like us.

I always believe as an avid nep enthusiasts, it's my responsibility to help preserve the what's left of the wild populations of nepenthes be it educating general public or saving plants that face the imminent threat of habitat destruction or plants at sites that will most likely to be develop in the near future by collecting some cuttings and seeds. In either case, I do it with restraint on the quantity and method I used to collect will not jeopordized the survival of the mother plant. Be sensible because all you need is 1 or 2 cuttings from the same plant.

BTW, I have personally witness N. gracilis springing back after an area was clear and burnt to the ground. I think as long as no herbicide was involved, some nepenthes (depending on species) is very resilient.