Field Trips: Let's Go Home?

 

Let's go home ???

 

I guess by now you should know that I am an avid collector of wild plants and animals. Is it ethical to abduct them out of their natural habitat ? Here's my take on the subject matter. So before you decide to take a wild plant or animal home, ask yourself these questions:

1. Where are you located? If it's a well guarded Nature reserve like Tanam Negara or some Botanical Gardens (especially in Singapore), you can just forget about it! In fact, you're not supposed to even pick up a fallen leaf from these areas, law can be enforced upon you. But then, this is Malaysia and if you want to play your luck, chances are with you, so play it smart. Sometimes even if you get caught here, money can get you out of trouble. So now you see, are we really protecting the species or protecting our pockets? It is pathetic but it's the way it works here. Anyways, I believe humans do not need law to be enforced to love nature.

2. What is the species? To me this is the most important. Obviously it's something attractive but if you don't even know what it is, how well do you think you can keep it? If you take it back home without knowing the requirements, it's as good as killing it. In analogy, there are a lot of people who buy plants or exotic pets on impulse only to kill them fast, that's not very smart! Of course one can say it's trial and error (sometimes it is) but those are the people who already know what the species are. Hence, if you don't know what a wild species is, take a picture and get it identified before thinking about taking it home. This is especially true for plants because they can't possibly run away. Learn about the species and its requirement. If it's something that needs special care that you can't fulfill, let it go.

3. Is the particular species/genus protected by law? If so, it's an endangered species listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Accordingly, you can't keep them without a license and most certainly you cannot sell'them locally or internationally. So if you happen to have one and it's happy under your care, good for you, but please keep it to yourself. I'm a big supporter of ex-situ conservation, if people know what they are doing and they're breeding an endangered species, that's one of the ways the species can survive extinction. Better still, they can get studied in the name of science. My favourite Brugmansia is an example, all of them are currently extinct in the wild, surviving thanks to people who planted them as ornamentals. Of course, we need people who are educated and responsible. I hope you are one of them and not those selfish individuals who kill wildlife for own benefit. Usually it's passion that's driving us. In fact, if you have collected and kept enough wildlife, you'll come to respect them and realise the importance to conserve them even more.

We humans have been collecting resources out of Nature as food, shelter, medicine and entertainment. And that is OKAY! There's nothing wrong about it, in fact if anything, it should be done in a way that our actions increase our awareness to converse diversity. Like how we did since ancient times, our ancestors knew if they over harvest, they cause their own demise. How is it that we don't today? It's all because we try to make a profit out of nature's bounty. That is okay too, but only when we have succeeded in breeding the organisms ex-situ. There are a lot of people, including myself who's doing this in so many ways, akin to walking between what's legal and illegal. I don't really care how others view me (some with respect, others less so), but at least I'm true to myself and my passion. I can assure you that I have not done anything that caused a ditch in biodiversity. In contrast, I have shed light with my limited ability in species identifications, their biochemistry, pharmaceutical potential, as well as public education. This is why I started this blog to begin with. It feels greater than just looking at some exotic species or beautiful flowers, I get deeper meanings.


So next time you come across a wild species that you yearn to bring home. Ask yourself the questions above. Give yourself and Mother Nature the answers, and you will know what to do. Perhaps one day, you'll end up with a path like mine, and you can proudly say, oh I've discovered a new species and I have a story to tell you.