Phnom Bokor or Bokor Hill is a huge 1100 metres high plateau located in southern Cambodia. It is the home of an endemic species of Nepenthes, namely Nepenthes bokorensis.
If you have never heard about this Cambodian species, please read these reports posted on various forums:
2007 field report:
2009 field report:
Oleg Kosterin, who has already graciously shared with us his beautiful pictures of Utricularia delphinioides, has visited Phnom Bokor last December. He was quite horrified by what he called "nature extermination".
He told me that the destruction of the habitats of Phnom Bokor reaches a high magnitude: huge areas are deforested and nature is being completely annihilated there.
There are still rangers working in that national park but according to Oleg, no one cares about the protection of Bokor once pristine habitat. What really matters is to achieve this result:
A "city" on a mountain filled with hotels, golfs, restaurants, helicopters landing areas, parking for buses...
Oleg managed to find a nice population of healthy plants on the road leading to the Popokvil Falls, a beautiful site located on the Bokor massif. The plants still thrive in a Sphagnum bog but it is arguably a matter of time before they get wiped out too.
Are they not beautiful? They look like a mix of Nepenthes madagascariensis and N.clipeata to me:
Biologist Jeremy Holden who also visited Phnom bokor quite recently told me that nearly all the Nepenthes bokorensis plants that you have seen in my previous field reports on forums have been eradicated. Rumors say that some huge similar project is being planned for Botum Sakor NP as well. This national park is located south west from Phnom Bokor. Botum Sakor hosts some populations of Nepenthes that are not identified yet. I'm going to study them next summer.
A HUGE SCANADAL THIS IS. THEY SUPOSSED TO BE ON CITES...
ReplyDeleteAlexander Nijman
Hi Alexander,
ReplyDeleteThat's the price to pay for emerging countries to develop I guess. Unfortunately, CITES only regulates the trade (thus export and import) of endangered plants and animals. It is of no use when a plant is being exterminated in its own country.
There are a few things that I have done and will do to help the plant to survive: describe it (done), spread seeds in cultivation (done), register it into the IUCN RedList (to be done).I'll try to fix a few more things but it is a virtually impossible task as the Cambodian governement doesn't care about biodiversity... unless it can brings money.
François.
Unbelievable... There aren't words for this CRIME!
ReplyDeleteHi Francois,
ReplyDeleteSad, really sad.
Everywhere around the world large buisiness parks and at least 5 golf-courses are more important as nature.
And what if the buisiness park fails?
money gone, plants gone, everything gone!
Take care,
wouter
Hi Wouter,
ReplyDeleteVery nice to see you here.;-)
It's a sad reality indeed. We have to take care of the cultivated material. I hope some parts of the National Park will be preserved.
François.