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Library Item

Regulate trade in rare plants

Description:

“Fewer than ten cabbage-on-a-stick plants (Brighamia insignis) are all that remain of the wild population in Hawaii. Yet for US$29.99, anyone could buy the succulent at online auction. Thanks to loosely regulated Internet commerce and efficient shipping, people are increasingly obtaining endangered or threatened plants, legally and illegally, and moving them outside their native ranges….Environmental agencies and governing bodies must better enforce existing species-protection laws, and establish legal frameworks to monitor and manage this rising tide of species redistribution.”