Imbalanced: Of astounding orchid diversity, laissez-faire trade, and lax conservation in Bangladesh

Many of my friends and colleagues, a bunch of hardened field biologists and nature enthusiasts, are into keeping orchids. Orchids come in exquisite blooms, their flowers in every colour combination imaginable. Orchids are the ultimate trophy plants — the legend goes on. Allured naturally, the small fraternity of wildlife biologists I belong to goes into collecting orchids whenever one crosses their paths in nature. 

Until recently, I never felt any concern about orchids or orchid-keeping for two major reasons. One, my botanic skills have a large room for improvement. My leisure time almost completely goes into fish-keeping and limits me from adopting a new, serious hobby. ''Some collections are even provided with some of the most complex and fully automated sprinkler systems,'' I recall from the past, ''orchids, with unusual forms and diverse lifestyles, are very demanding.'' So, years ago, when I was requested to write a piece on these plants, I did not feel moved. 

Well, until recently, that is.

It has been about a couple of months since Shahriar Caesar Rahman, a conservationist who works in the Hill Tracts, was constantly messaging me about rampant, large-scale orchid extractions. ''Orchids are seriously threatened here. The booming trade is finishing them off,'' I was told. I was sceptical but then told to get connected with Facebook-based trade groups to get some first-hand experience. I followed the pursuit. And, wham! In Bangladesh, you can buy orchids of every shape, size, and colour. 

There are orchids worth Tk100 to Tk10,000. There are personal collections of more than 10,000 cultivars and species. There are orchids from India, Myanmar, Thailand, the US, UK, and Australia. ''I can keep some easy-going species like the Foxtail,'' I start thinking, looking at the small collection of hibiscuses on my balcony. 

The foxtail orchid is a common wild species, also highly popular. Its multiple streams of white-based pink-tinted flowers give a hint of the nine-tailed mythical fox, Ahri, and — also like Ahri — is very good at mesmerising the onlooker. But unlike the myth, where beauty is often used to hunt down hypnotised prey, in the wilderness, beauty always causes the demise of the beast. From illegal trade in "aphrodisiac" tiger parts to mass harvest of "tasty" tunas are testament to this fact. ''Are any of these sourced from our forest? If so, what about the 'rare' species?'' A revelation struck me. I started digging deeper. 

Diversity in Bangladesh

Orchids, after the marigold family, are the most diverse plant families encompassing about 30,000 species. There are epiphytic orchids, meaning they grow on other trees; there are orchids that conventionally grow on the ground, we call them ground orchids. Orchids having twig-like leaves are called pencil orchids. Some species are completely subterranean. The list is endless. 

According to the latest research on orchid diversity in Bangladesh done by botanist professors at the University of Chattogram (CU), we have around 200 species from 72 genera. We have orchids in mangroves and grasslands. But the bulk calls the eastern mixed evergreen of Sylhet and Chattogram divisions home. 

Truckloads of orchids

I almost discarded the claim, ''Orchids are sold by weight at a very cheap rate at hill markets. The traders bring the load by trucks and re-sell them by number. The profit is often thousand-fold.'' I reached out to local journalists at Khagrachari, a major point of orchid trade and farming. 

What Caesar Rahman has said is no exaggeration. Fahim Zaman, a hobbyist and a trekker friend of mine, reiterated, ''For quick money, orchids are uprooted as lots.'' For orchids are slow-growers, he shared the impact from his recent trekking experiences, ''Our hills are becoming empty of orchids.'' 

Rush for 'rare' orchids

The thrill of the hunt is no uncommon thing in the hobby. And orchid collectors are likewise fierce. Although, for being a plant and somewhat cryptic, orchids don't often attract enough conservation attention, there are case studies where orchids are certainly meeting their demise due to high market demand. Just a year-long survey published in the journal Biological Conservation found 1.2 million individual plants of 400-plus species of wild orchids floating in the South China markets, worth $14.6 million. The illegal orchid trafficking network is likened to the cartels', often more knowledgeable than the scientists of the whereabouts of rare orchids. 

Md Foysal, an ornithologist and plant enthusiast, shared his encounters with a ground orchid in gold-yellow bloom in a private shade. The species, likely Spathoglottis pubescens, is thought to be extinct in the wild. ''The owner proudly claimed that his collection was sourced from Bangladesh. How did he make it possible?'' I felt the surprise in Foysal's voice.

Gap needs to be bridged

Exasperated, I opened the Bangladesh Wildlife (Conservation and Protection) Act 2012. Only seven orchids are enlisted in the protected wildlife schedule! But orchids are threatened. In 2017, the same group of CU professors published another list, fearing that about 54 are perhaps lost from Bangladesh. These rare orchids have yet to make into the schedule, let alone receive any stringent protection measures or market monitoring. 

At the same time, I found out multiple features in both print and electronic media promoting orchid farming, its economic prospects, and some astoundingly rich, privately-owned orchid collections. There is little to almost no notion of the threats our wild orchids are facing because of this ever-growing market. Many said that hobbyists can save orchids by breeding and propagating. I saw some researchers saying that orchids can be saved by ex-situ processes like tissue cultures. But are orchids only to garnish gardens, roof-tops and balconies? What are thoughts about celebrating orchids in our wilderness?

I remember only one recent initiative ensued after the startling discovery of a ground orchid in the grassland of Rajshahi, previously known only from three 100-year-old collections at the Kew Herbarium. The discovery was made by happenchance at an abandoned crop field. Soon the plot was cleared. The initiative died down right there with no further survey effort. These imbalances need to be amended. 

A strange sadness engulfs me. Orchids are evolutionary masters of mimicry. All orchid flowers have a distinctively modified, enlarged petal called labellum. In non-fragrant orchids, this often takes the shape of some female insect to lure potential insects, pollination then takes place. 

There is an orchid in Madagascar, the Star-of-Bethlehem, that blooms into over foot-long flowers. Charles Darwin, despite never visiting Madagascar, predicted, only by examining some dried flowers, that the species must be pollinated by an insect with a very long proboscis. After 21 years, after his death, his prediction turned true: such a moth was discovered. I love to speak about the amazing feats in my classes. And, our wild orchids are vanishing in silence. 

Finally, I miss having a discussion with Professor Dr Kamrul Huda, the lead of the orchid specialist group at CU, who passed away in a tragic road accident in 2021. He pursued his doctorate on the Hill Tracts' orchids at the University of Aberdeen. While looking for his dissertation, I found his book 'Orchids of South East Bangladesh', published in the UK and available on Amazon. Sombre yet encouraged to work for the least-studied wildlife, I order the book with a wistful smile.