[PCA] US battles to find - and save - illegally trafficked plants

[De Angelis, Patricia]

Posting this article about the work that we do in our office at the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife service with our partners across the United States and
around the world to ensure that plants are not overharvested for
international trade. I have to point out this quote from the article:
""Most people look at [wildlife trafficking] in terms of rhino horn and
elephant tusks. I don't want plants to be considered second class to
animals," says McLaughlin."

By Jane O'Brien
BBC News, Washington
13 August 2015

Every year thousands of plants are illegally imported into the US - but
what happens after they're seized? And what happens to plants in danger of
extinction?

When government inspectors in Hawaii opened a box of plants imported from
Tokyo earlier this year, they realised something was wrong. Nestled among
the collection of Japanese succulents were a number of cacti, some
critically endangered.

The plants were undocumented and officials were unable to tell whether they
had been harvested illegally from the wild or sustainably grown in an
artificial environment.

The shipment was seized under Cites - the Convention on International Trade
of Endangered Species.

"It's a substantial problem," says Anne St John, a biologist with the US
Fish and Wildlife Service. "Between 2011 and 2014 we confiscated an average
of 5,600 live plants every year."

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33896138
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