Details: illegal poaching of Nepenthes ephippiata plants on Bukit Raya, West Kalimantan. This species is included on CITES Appendix II. Illegal poaching of this plant is a crime under Article 21 paragraph 1 and Article 40 paragraph 2 of Indonesian Law No 5/1900 on natural resources, which stipulates a maximum punishment of five yeas in jail or a Rp 100 million fine. This case of poaching took place over mid-2020. The poachers took photographs of themselves whilst poaching Nepenthes ephippiata plants and even released their contact details (see screenshot of Omba Dhin, who is clearly recongisable in these photographs) in an attempt to sell the plants that they poached. This case is interesting because we can see poaching full circle. Literally hundred of Nepenthes ephippiata plants were cut down in the wild and sold, eventually, to buyers mainly (but not exclusively) in China. The poachers document their buyers in China (see screenshots of messages below – note messages from Omba Dhin). As is so often the case with poached Nepenthes, virtually all plants died in transit and were black and rotting when they arrived. So the end result is: the poacher committed a crime in poaching, the buyer committed a crime in trafficking plants listed in CITES Appendix II and wasted money, ending up only with dead plants, but perhaps most significantly… hundreds of decades-old Nepenthes ephippiata plants were thoughtlessly ripped from the wild and killed. It is not know if viable populations of Nepenthes ephippiata survive on Bukit Raya.
Recent Comments