Illegal plant trade blooms in Southeast Asia

The researchers observed much more illegal trade in plants than the trade volumes reported by the government. They found that virtually none of the international trade they observed during their field surveys appear in official databases, conservation action plans, or government policies, even though the trade is occurring openly at public markets across the region. “In this case, we’ve simply turned a blind eye to plant trade and botanical conservation”, says Phelps, who is currently with the Center for International Forestry Research in Indonesia. “This research highlights a common problem in the illegal wildlife trade—the invisibility of trades that have not been researched and are not recognized in official government databases.”