Tigers, rhinoceros and snow leopards are being pushed to the verge of extinction through the illegal trade in wildlife, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Every year, hundreds of millions of plants and animals are traded illegally with a turnover of more than €5.5 billion, second in size only to the illegal trade in drugs.
Through Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network of WWF and the IUCN (the World Conservation Union), the World Wildlife Fund has just launched a worldwide campaign to stop illegal wildlife trade. The campaign is calling for higher sentences for illegal wildlife trade and sentencing guidelines to be issued to magistrates and judges on the appropriate penalties for wildlife crime.
Here in Ireland, there has been little attention paid to the matter and the Irish Government ratified legislation on the international wildlife trade only in January, although it signed up to the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 28 years ago. At a time when there is a growing interest in keeping wild animals as pets, a wider use of some traditional medicines based on exotic plants and an increasingly diversified retail market, you can be sure that increased vigilance on the UN convention will be required here too.
See www.wwf.org.uk/wildlifetrade and www.traffic.org
MEDICINAL herbs, rare Irish orchids and Kerry lilies are among the plants which feature in Patrick O'Hara's porcelain plaques and watercolour paintings on exhibition in the National Botanic Gardens from Thursday.
O'Hara is a Cork-based sculptor and painter whose studies of natural history, botany and zoology encouraged him to show plants and insects in their natural habitats. He has also been a campaigner for the conservation of tropical medicinal plants and for more research into our own temperate wild flowers and garden plants. O'Hara will talk about his work and travels on Thursday at 3.15 p.m in the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin. The exhibition, Wild & Secret Gardens, is open to the public from May 30th to June 10th.
Also showing in the National Botanic Gardens is the Augustine Henry exhibition, An Irish Plant Collector in China, after its display at the Chelsea Flower Show 2002.
Plantsman at the National Botanic Gardens, Seamus O'Brien, will talk about this exhibition on June 6th at 3.15 p.m. Tel: 01-8570909.
A SURVEY of seahorses along the Irish coast, a study of the broadleaved woodlands on the Inishowen Peninsula in Co Donegal and a survey of the yellowhammer in Co Limerick were among the 30 projects which received funding from the wildlife grant scheme of the Heritage Council this year.
The scheme funds projects that contribute to the collection of data on flora, fauna and wildlife habitats. The Heritage Council will be seeking applications for the 2003 Wildlife Grant Scheme in September/October this year, so now is the time to plan your projects. Contact ecologist Liam Lysaght at the Heritage Council in Kilkenny for more details. Tel: 056-70777. E-mail: heritage@heritagecouncil.com
A LITTLE advance notice for those interested in all things organic. The annual Organic Food and Wine Festival in London goes ahead from June 28th to June 30th at Olympia 2, London W14. It's a great chance to sample the latest and greatest in organic foods and wines and get some inspiration from the experts. Guest chefs include Antonio Carluccio and Antony Worrall Thompson. The programme is available from www.organicevents.co.uk
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