(MY) Threatened Pitcher plant

[Guest guest]

A pitch for help - New Straits Times

By Grace Choong (features)

 

June 4: THE beetle was in for trouble. " Sniffing " the air, it picked up

a fragrant smell from the direction of a harmless looking

funnel-shaped plant. Ah food! He thought, as he allowed his nose to

lead the way.

 

The source of the smell was a colourful plant shaped like a pitcher,

complete with a lid. Little did the beetle know that he was up against

the Nepenthes, a carnivorous plant found throughout Borneo,

Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia.

 

Making his way to the top, he " licked " the sweet nectar under the lid

of the plant. Yummy. His nose led him further to the edge of the

pitcher, inward to an area of the pitcher's inside wall coated with

loose waxy scales, was located.

 

Before he knew it, he was sliding down the inside wall of the jug,

splashing into a pool of liquid at the bottom. Blurry-eyed and

light-headed, he tried to escape but there was no way out. His

appetite had led him his death.

 

His antagonist, the Nepenthes, locally known as the pitcher plant,

monkey cup, or periuk kera, grows in the shape of a pitcher as its

name suggests. It traps insects that fall inside and digests them with

chemicals it secretes. Among its victims are bugs, insects,

centipedes, rats, birds and frogs which it attracts, captures, kills,

digests and absorbs for nourishment.

 

There are to date nearly 90 recognised species of pitcher plants,

displaying a great diversity of forms. Species from warm low-elevation

forests are termed " lowlanders " whereas those from cool mountain

forests above 1000m are known as " highlanders " . Sadly, these

plants, once frequently found along nature trails, are rarely seen,

primarily due to poachers who rip them from their natural habitat for

nurseries who then sell it for profit.

 

Due to their unique shape and colour, there is a trend for them to be

used as ornamental plants, hence attracting people to pull it from the

forest in order to beautify their own gardens.

 

The plant itself had always fascinated me, causing me to embark on

a quest for the Nepenthes in its natural habitat.

 

The warmth of the sunshine, together with the coolness of Cameron

Highlands made a delicious combination perfect for pitcher plant

hunting as we were driven up Gunung Brinchang, in Cameron

Highlands one morning.

 

We were led to the mossy forest, a place which looked as if it had

been modelled right out of fairyland. Lush thick moss grew all around

us where colourful and diverse flora grew side by side, forming an

intricate ecosystem.

 

Leading us was Kaliyannan Karuppiah (better known as Kali), a

member of the Malaysian Nature Society and a nature guide licensed

by the Ministry of Arts, Tourism and Culture. Having grown up in

Cameron Highlands, Kali knows every nook and corner of the

highlands and is the man to go to if you are interested in getting

acquainted with Mother Earth.

 

He knows every single shrub and weed in the forest and has the

uncanny ability to roll scientific names off his tongue even before you

can yell nature.

 

In the forest, Kali showed us evidence of poachers making their

mark. Young pitcher plants were seen lying along the trail. Pulled out

and plucked away from their mother plant, these young ones were

left to wither and die.

 

Picking up a shoot, he showed us where these plants were

improperly torn, leaving fungus to grow at the wound which will then

slowly but surely kill the mother plant.

 

" For the past 15 years, 80 per cent of these pitcher plants have been

removed from the forest. This also happens with orchids and other

valuable plants, " he said, while shoving the young plant back into the

damp soil to give it a second chance at survival, behind some trees

where it could not be seen from the trail.

 

" At Gunung Brinchang, poachers are hired by nurseries to take these

plants. These are professional poachers who know what to find and

where to find them. It is difficult to track them down, " he said, adding

that they may very well be hiding in the bushes right behind us.

 

The plant is an integral part of the ecosystem, helping to maintain the

delicate equilibrium in the forest, explained Kali.

 

" It serves as a source of food for certain birds that peck a little hole

just above the water level and eat the insects and maggots inside

them. Land crabs also frequent the pitchers to scavenge for food.

 

" Also, a particular species of frog lays its eggs inside the jug. These

eggs are not digested by the pitcher's enzymes, but instead absorb

nutrients from the plant's liquid in order to survive.

 

" Even when the pitcher plant dies, it releases nutrients into the soil,

nurturing and making it possible for other plants to grow.

 

The public should be aware of the situation, and not support these

poachers by buying plants taken out of the wild. " My idea is to tell

people not to buy plants poached from the forest. They should buy

tissue cultured ones instead, " said Kali.

 

Furthermore, plants acquired from the forest are not domesticated

and therefore will not survive at home unless housed in a herbarium

or greenhouse.

 

" These plants require a specific temperature and humidity to survive.

Unless you copy their environment, you'll be wasting your time trying

to keep them alive. "

 

The way to differentiate between the poached and cultivated ones is

by observing the plant.

 

" The cultivated ones are clean. No spots. The ones yanked from the

jungle have moss and lichen growing on them, " he said.

 

Stopping by a nursery on the way back from Gunung Brinchang, we

saw pitcher plants for sale at prices ranging from RM20 to RM30

each. The nursery owner, who seemed rather reluctant to entertain

our questions, admitted that these plants were taken directly from

the forest.

 

According to Kali, he had repeatedly advised these nursery owners

not to acquire these plants from the forest, but to no avail.

 

" It's no use trying to convince them, when they have profit in mind, "

he said.

 

Except for two species, the pitcher plant genus is listed in CITES

(the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna and Flora), an international agreement between governments

to ensure international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants

do not threaten their survival. This means only propagated material

may go out of the country. However, trade within the country itself is

difficult to regulate, said Lillian Chua from the Forest Reserve Institute

of Malaysia (Frim), one of the contributors to the book Nepenthes of

Sumatera and Peninsular Malaysia authored by Charles Clarke.

 

" Although certain species in Sarawak may be protected because of

their inaccessibility as they are located above 1,000m, local

harvesting activities cannot be helped as there is no protected list of

species in Peninsular Malaysia.

 

" We are aware of poachers going into the forest, but there is not

much effort in trying to curb it. Its not a matter of putting enforcement

people there, but of educating people about the dangers of loosing

the plant, " she said.

 

The over-harvesting trend differs in different places.

 

" The Nepenthes in Sabah, having a high diversity with many endemic

species, is endangered as these species are found nowhere else.

Once you wipe it out, that's the end of it. "

 

This is unlikely to happen in Sarawak as most of the plants are found

in national parks and protected areas.

 

However, she stressed that the threat will be there should the mother

stock dwindle drastically due to over-harvesting.

 

Various kinds of measures should be used to prevent extinction,

depending on the population of pitcher plants in different areas, she

said.

 

In an effort to preserve the wild collection, a laboratory and

greenhouse nursery facility called Malesiana Tropicals was

established in 1998, devoted to the artificial micropropagation of a

variety of tropical plants.

 

Working closely with the Sarawak Forestry Department and Sarawak

Biodiversity Centre, it has developed a stock of over 70 species of the

Nepenthes plant, along with other unusual species from the region

such as Vodoo Lilies, Shield Leaf Plants, and Staghorn Ferns.

 

Its propagation programme begins in the laboratory where sterile

plant material is multiplied in vitro on nutrient media. Plant material is

then grown under optimal conditions until they have reached a

sufficient size for planting in the greenhouses.

 

" Once these species have been cultured, it is unnecessary to remove

them from the wild, as an infinite number of plants can be produced

from the stock, " said the nursery's operation manager, Chien Lee.

 

The nursery is the first of its kind to be established in Malaysia,

although many such facilities are found in Europe and the United

States.

 

Its website www.malesiana.

 

tropicals.com.my offers a catalogue of high-quality plants available for

purchase and also information on the history and cultivation tips for

the plants.

 

While Malesiana Tropicals certainly plays a part in helping to

conserve these plants, it is nevertheless disheartening for Kali, who

continues to witness his beloved plants dwindle.

 

Running a tour agency called Camping Holidays, he continues to

venture into the forest, looking out for poachers and educating

tourists about the importance of preserving pitcher plants.

 

" Its an uphill battle, but if I don't do it, nobody will, " he said.