|
After 20 years of service, wildlife officer Richard Labossière thought he had seen it all when it came to wildlife smuggling. That is until March 2, 2000, when he received a call from a Canada Customs inspector at the Winnipeg International Airport advising that a very large shipment of orchids had just arrived from Taiwan. Little did he know that this would lead to the largest orchid bust in Canadian history.
The orchid family is one of the largest in the world of flower-producing plants and counts thousands of different species and hybrids. Orchids are widely hunted and collected throughout the world. As a result, certain species are now scarce, but unfortunately orchid smuggling is not that rare a business.
|
Mr. Labossière teamed up with an orchid expert and together they identified 211 Paphiopedilum, colloquially referred to as Paphs and also known as Asian Tropical Lady Slipper Orchids. Paphs are among the most widely cultivated and hybridized of orchid genera. Considered highly collectible by growers due to the curious and unusual form of their flowers, they are, however, also an endangered species, listed under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Appendix I-listed species are those that are threatened with extinction, and their trade is prohibited – unless it is for scientific purposes – under CITES. CITES is the international agreement which protects endangered species of animals and plants by regulating their international trade.
After examining the Taiwanese CITES export permit accompanying the shipment, the inspection team noted that the shipper had not included any of the 211 specimens, listing a less endangered Appendix II orchid species instead – Appendix II-listed species are not endangered, but could become so if regulations are not strict enough.
The importer, Ever Spring Orchid Nursery Ltd., claimed the orchids were hybrids rather than pure Lady Slippers, and since all 211 specimens were void of flowers, there was no way of proving that they were CITES Appendix I listed species until the orchids flowered, which could take up to two years. Lady Slippers grow a new shoot each time the older one dies, and each shoot only blooms once when it matures. Luckily, the first orchid, a hybrid, bloomed after three months. In October of 2000, a second orchid bloomed, and this was a pure specimen, clearly a protected species.
During the following winter several more of these orchids bloomed and all were sent by air to Ottawa for hands-on expert identification. Before long, the Ottawa expert had positively identified 29 of the seized orchids as Paphiopedilum conco-bellatulum, Paphiopedilum armeniacum, Paphiopedilum micranthum, Paphiopedilum bellatulum and Paphiopedilum malipoense – all listed as CITES Appendix I.
|
|
|
During the course of the next year and a half, a total of five cautioned interviews were taken from the importer and search warrants were executed. Seized records showed that three prior Paph imports from Taiwan had taken place dating back to 1997. In February 2002, the business and all three board members of the corporation were charged with numerous counts under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA) as well as the Customs Act. WAPPRIITA is the legislative vehicle by which Canada meets its obligations under CITES, controlling the international trade of certain wild species.
Though the flowers had been identified as a rare species, a challenge remained for the Ottawa experts who had yet not proven that the orchids came from wild stock. Photographs of all 211 plants were soon sent to world renowned plant experts Dr. Noel McGough and Dr. Crib from the Royal Botanical Gardens in England, and Ger Van Vliet from the CITES Secretariat in Switzerland. In December 2002, Mr. Labossière received a detailed report in which all three experts pointed out leaf damage, leaf discoloration, old leaf growth and root damage to the flowers, confirming that the plants had been plucked from the wild.
Faced with this evidence, the Ever Spring Orchid Nursery Ltd. pleaded guilty to WAPPRIITA and the Customs Act on July 31, 2003, and was convicted of illegally importing endangered orchids into Canada under false import declarations. The company was fined a total of $15 000, of which $5000 was earmarked for the non-profit group Friends of the Conservatory, to build an educational display at the Winnipeg Plant Conservatory to house the seized orchids. The display is a venue to educate the public on orchid conservation.
As a result of this investigation, wildlife officer Richard Labossière is now known affectionately among his colleagues as "Officer Orchid".
|
|
