 |
|
|
Colombia's Bid to Save Its National Flower |
|
By Yadira Ferrer*
The
cattleya trianae orchid is in danger of extinction. But using both
traditional and modern techniques, experts are fighting to keep
this emblematic flower from disappearing.
BOGOTA - In a space of 250 square meters in
the garden of his home in the city of Medellín, Carlos Sánchez,
a retired industrial engineer, enjoys the daily pleasure of seeing
several hundred cattleya trianae orchids grow. It is Colombia's
national flower and is threatened with extinction as a result of
environmental degradation and urbanization.
Sánchez, a member of the Colombian Orchid Society, has in his garden
some 5,000 orchid plants, mostly the cattleya trianae, which he
has been able to reproduce and preserve using the "comparción",
or dividing, technique that he learned from his grandparents in
the countryside.
"For the reproduction one takes an adult plant and divides it into
several pieces, ensuring that each part has a minimum of four or
five leaves, and then lets them take root," he explained to Tierramérica.
Sánchez maintains that his "homemade" technique allows the plant
to flower within four years, while the in vitro technique used by
experts in the laboratory means a seven-year wait.
The cattleya trianae is on its way to extinction because its habitat
has been destroyed, but "a great number of institutions and individuals
are working to prevent the species from disappearing."
Among those institutions is the Colombian Orchid Society, based
in the northwestern Colombian city of Medellín and founded 40 years
ago. Its 180 members promote the study, cultivation, conservation
and crossbreeding of orchids, and they pressure the government to
take action to preserve and recuperate the ecosystems in which this
species grows.
The orchid foundation of Tolima, a department of central Colombia,
maintains an "orchidary" where visitors can appreciate 150 extinct
species as well as other orchids that are endangered, including
the national flower.
The foundation is a non-governmental organization created 12 years
ago, and among its objectives is environmental education and raising
awareness of the visitors it receives daily.
In the Colombian capital, the recovery effort for the cattleya trianae
is led by the Bogotá Botanical Garden, where the largest-scale in
vitro reproduction of the orchid takes place.
The process is initiated by biologists, who seek out seeds or germinated
plants that possess the necessary traits for laboratory reproduction.
There, in a long process, the natural conditions of germination
are replicated to obtain the desired basic material.
According to Botanical Garden experts, the institution has enough
material to produce thousands of plants, but is so far opting to
maintain them in semi-natural spaces where their survival can be
guaranteed.
The flower takes its name from English botanist William Cattley
(1788-1835) and forms part of the orquidea family found in the tropics
of the Americas.
The cattleya trianae, native to Colombia, is an epiphyte, meaning
it does not require soil, and is found in the central departments
of Tolima, Huila and Cundinamarca. Its flowers range across 15 colors,
from white to red.
The orchids traditionally have been found in areas ranging from
the seashore to the mountains, but the best zone to find them is
from 1,800 to 2,500 meters above sea level.
Biologist Manuela Herrera, of the state-run Universidad del Atlántico,
told Tierramérica that the cattleya trianae is one of the 3,000
orchid species found in Colombia, which represent approximately
10 percent of these flower species worldwide.
Plants are the leading natural wealth of Colombia, with 45 to 55
thousand species of flora, of which a third are found only in this
country, she said.
This great biodiversity is very vulnerable to the destructive actions
of humans in their habitat, and some 10,000 plant species are threatened
-- a situation that is particularly grave for orchids, stressed
the expert.
"At the end of the 19th century, ships carrying cattleyas traveled
from the Americas to Europe, destined for nobility, and only five
percent of the shipments reached their destination," said Herrera.
* Yadira Ferrer is a Tierramérica contributor.
|
