[Taxacom] CITES and herbarium vouchers

[Mario Blanco]

An article titled "CITES and the Herbarium Voucher" by Dr. Pat Duncan
Raven appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of Plant Science Bulletin (PDF
attached, with permission of the editor).  It summarizes the problems
that current CITES regulations pose for sending herbarium material
(loans, gifts for determination, exchanges) across countries, mainly for
Orchidaceae, but also Cactaceae and other groups listed in CITES
appendices.  These problems have been discussed in length but
surprisingly no organized proposal to the CITES Secretary-General has
ever been made.  During the recent 3rd Orchid Conservation Congress in
Costa Rica, the IUCN-SSC Orchid Specialist Group drafted a resolution to
support the exclusion of herbarium material from CITES control
(hightlighted in the article).

Dr. Raven is collecting information on the experiences of various
institutions or individuals on this subject, to provide background
documentation for such a proposal.  It is critical that this proposal
has wide international support to convince the CITES parties of its
importance.  So, please email her (pat.raven at mobot.org) with a brief
statement of your experience and/or opinion.

Thanks for your time,
Mario Blanco

-- 
Mario A. Blanco
Herbarium FLAS
Florida Museum of Natural History
University of Florida
385 Dickinson Hall
P.O. Box. 117800
Gainesville, FL 32611-7800
U.S.A.

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