christian book distributors? central business district? -------------------------------------------------- From: "Mark BROWN" <brown.mark@wanadoo.fr> Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 7:47 AM To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Subject: Re: [pbs] How to kill a CBD > Magnificent post Tom, thank-you! > Mark > > > > >> Message du 11/09/11 11:03 >> De : "Tom Mitchell" >> A : pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >> Copie à : >> Objet : [pbs] How to kill a CBD >> >> I'm sure that most readers of the PBS list want to get back to talking >> about bulbs. The enthusiasm for growing plants - as many and as varied as >> possible - that shines from every post on this forum is its defining >> characteristic. My policy proposal would be to harness that enthusiasm to >> the ends of plant conservation by doing exactly what we are doing...but >> more of it. > > Several members of the forum have mentioned the UK's system of 'National > Collections'. In principle this is a great idea but the Charity that runs > the scheme, Plant Heritage is fatally damaged by its self-imposed slavish > adherence to treaties such as the CBD and CITES. One national collection > holder recently told me that he had collected seed of his favourite genus > on a field trip in South America and had raised and was selling plants > from this source. He was threatened with expulsion from the scheme because > 'we cannot be seen to be condoning _____ breaking the law.' > > Why not establish an informal network of US-based 'International > Collections'? The huge advantage to basing such an organisation in the USA > is that it is the only large, wealthy country that has not signed the CBD. > You can thumb your nose at it without fear of prosecution. Don't limit the > number of collections per genus. The more, the better. Don't make the > mistake of appointing a committee or allowing one to appoint itself. The > committee will immediately become part of the establishment and want to > insist on complying with the CBD and you'll be back to square one. > > As for the CBD, my advice is to ignore it. As I said, treat it with the > contempt it deserves. We cannot change it from within, so let's destroy it > from without. > > With any new law it is wise to ask the Roman Senator Cassius's question - > 'cui bono', who benefits? In the case of the CBD the answer is > emphatically not biodiversity, for all the reasons previously discussed. > In the case of the CBD, no-one benefits because it is toothless and > routinely ignored. The would-be beneficiaries, however, are the > bureaucrats, who get to attend conferences in fancy hotels to negotiate > these things, their political masters, who can claim to their bone-headed > electorates to be 'doing something' and the business interests that pull > the puppets' strings. It is instructive to quote from an email I received > while I was writing this from a friend who has worked all his life as a > conservation biologist. > > 'You can imagine that, in 1992 [the 'Earth Summit', where the CBD was > born], every nation state arrived at the table with strict instructions > from their respective despots back at home to fight, tooth and nail, for > their self-interests. More, they are not to sign off on anything that > will damage their development process, as they see it. Translated, this > means that they don't want to sign off to anything that will cost money > for any industry in which the Big Men, back at home, have vested > interests. They don't want to have an aggressive, fang-bearing lion > that'll come and bite them later in the arse.' > > Another friend, a high-ranking conservationist, who works at the front > line of bird conservation, wrote even more revealingly in response to an > earlier diatribe of mine against the CBD: > > ' I especially love your treatise on the CBD - I share your views but can > not express them as I work for an NGO and we have to praise it.' > > 'We have to praise it.' These two guys are passionate conservationists and > have taken poorly paid, insecure jobs in an effort to promote biodiversity > conservation. Yet they cannot say what they think if they want to keep > these jobs. We are on our own, I'm afraid, but collectively we are up to > the task. > > Best wishes, > > Tom > > > > > > >> Some might suggest that an organization like PBS or NARGS or >> AGS or even AHS and RHS campaign to resolve the issue of propagation >> and distribution, but there seem to be complicities within >> complicities and well meaning do-gooders preventing all the most >> desirable results. >> >> I don't have a clue to even an approach to an answer, but the >> current situation seems foolish at best. >> >> Tom and Boyce can you suggest the first step to resolve this? >> A step that shows cooperation between both the regulators and >> authorities, and the growers and gardeners who might implement some >> changes? >> >> BestJim W. >> >> * as well as national regulatory agencies, greed and the status quo >> -- >> Dr. James W. Waddick >> 8871 NW Brostrom Rd. >> Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711 >> USA >> Ph. 816-746-1949 >> Zone 5 Record low -23F >> Summer 100F + > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/