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  • Thread starter Clue
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Clue

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Hi friends, I think this piece recently published in the Portland Mercury is well worth a read, not only because it involves our community here at Terraforums, but because it's a somber reminder of the ethics and responsibilities in growing our plants.

https://www.portlandmercury.com/feature/2017/07/05/19140283/planted

I'm deeply saddened that someone I aspired grow like went down the path he did. :-(
 
Wow, I was wondering what happened to him. I traded with him on several occasions in the past and he seemed like a really stand up guy, it's unfortunate that he chose to go down that path.
 
That's a shame. Poaching is an important issue that could easily kill off some of the rarer nepenthes.
 
This sucks, but I have 2 questions. Is Wistuba still a legal source of plants, because they mentioned him in this? Also are we allowed to have hamata, villosa, and edwardsiana, because those are some of the plants I want to get?
 
This sucks, but I have 2 questions. Is Wistuba still a legal source of plants, because they mentioned him in this? Also are we allowed to have hamata, villosa, and edwardsiana, because those are some of the plants I want to get?

Yes, it's perfectly legal to get plants from Wistuba. I was sort of confused about that section of the article as well, since it made it sound as though he operating "Wistuba Nepenthes" and the "Nepenthes Nursery" which he obviously wasn't.
 
Ok whew. I was worried there for a few seconds considering I want to drop at least 1k with Wistuba.
 
The article was extremely misleading in that it implied that keeping Nepenthes is illegal. There is not a single species of Nepenthes that is illegal to keep - what is illegal is shipping them across national borders without proper documentation. I have no idea why Wistuba was mentioned as they will not ship without proper documentation.
 
I had been looking for information about this ever since I found out what happened last summer. It seems the investigation was much longer than I thought, and the charges much more serious than I was led to believe.

This sucks, but I have 2 questions. Is Wistuba still a legal source of plants, because they mentioned him in this? Also are we allowed to have hamata, villosa, and edwardsiana, because those are some of the plants I want to get?

This article seems to be written by someone with a very poor understanding of plant trade laws, or at least doesn't know how to word it properly. It keeps saying "not legally allowed to have" but the legal issues lie in international trade of these plants, not in possession. Any plant imported with proper paperwork and permits (CITES requires protected plants to be certified that they are artificially propagated) is perfectly legal to grow. The article mentions "Wistuba Exotics" which is not the same thing as Wistuba in Germany. I know why the name is used (probably not something I should share,) and trust me there's nothing to worry about on that front.

I am particularly unhappy about the way this article publicizes our group and seems to be implying that we're meeting for some nefarious purpose, despite the fact that no other locals were ever implicated in the investigation.
 
Thanks for answering my questions, and easing my worries nimbulan.
 
  • #10
Thanks for sharing. This is sad indeed.
 
  • #11
Hi friends, I think this piece recently published in the Portland Mercury is well worth a read, not only because it involves our community here at Terraforums, but because it's a somber reminder of the ethics and responsibilities in growing our plants.

I agree.

As for the Portland Group meets, they carried on an undercover investigation for three years and only one member was implicated in any illegal activity. I am very saddened that this article has shed a negative light on our Portland CP group. I also agree that this article is misleading in more ways than one, as is the way of the media.
 
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  • #12
Wow! I'm simply stunned. I have considered our group to be friendly, legal and generally approved of by all. We seem to have been branded otherwise.
 
  • #13
The article certainly could lead one to believe that our group is part of some plant smuggling ring and makes me worry about the future of our wonderful little group due to the alleged activities of one person.

I would encourage anyone who may have been contemplating attending one of meets before this article came out to do so and see for themselves that we are nothing other than a group of local CP enthusiasts getting together to talk about, share experiences of, and promote this wonderful hobby.
 
  • #15
Wow! I'm simply stunned. I have considered our group to be friendly, legal and generally approved of by all. We seem to have been branded otherwise.

You're obviously a bunch of miscreants and malcontents . . .
 
  • #17
Hate to be that guy but the saying is exactly the opposite: "One bad apple spoils the bunch," which is true of apples :sorry:

I'm pretty annoyed with the article and its misrepresentations. Our group is such a great bunch and it's really not warranted to insinuate that we're anything else.
 
  • #19
Hate to be that guy but the saying is exactly the opposite: "One bad apple spoils the bunch," which is true of apples :sorry:

I'm pretty annoyed with the article and its misrepresentations. Our group is such a great bunch and it's really not warranted to insinuate that we're anything else.

Oh yeah?

But have it your way. You're all a bunch of rotten apples, smugglers, miscreants and malcontents. Time to get the ban hammer out :D
 
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  • #20
[MENTION=6910]BigBella[/MENTION] and NAN: :-))
 
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