Protecting our wild orchids

How can everyone protect the wild orchids? Here are few hints: 

- Sharing information of wild orchids and to let people know, that they are the jewels of even northern countries. Many people think that orchids are only tropical plants, and most of them also know thatt orchids are rare in wild. But few is aware, that we have our own orchids too, plants which also really need protecting, in some cases even more than they´re tropical relatives. People should be given all the information about wild orchids that we can, and that will hopefully encourage them to start protect these plants. This is possible by writing to national newspapers and by taking part to different happenings which have something to do with nature.  

- Mapping all the orchids in Finland, and other contries will be an important mission for all of us. Without mapping all possible orchids, it will be very difficult, even impossible to follow the commonness of different species. 

- Protecting the places orchids grow in. Many species are rare in Finland and many growing-sites are under danger of destruction. We in here will try to start taking care of different growing-places, and hopefully this work is done all around world by many people. Also, if any place with orchids is about to be destroyed, because of a new road etc., we´ll try to take those plants to safe. Here we will need lot of help from those who read this, othervice it might proofe to be extremely difficult to find out where there are orchids under such threat. 
  
- Cooperation with other European orchid protection groups. Studies made in other countries than Finland can also help us to understand our orchids better, what they need and how they can be protected.  

In the end we must mention that artificial growing of theatened species from seed will be an extreme way to take back orchids to places where they have died for one reason or another. It is possible that we will start to collect seeds of some common species. 

These are propably the ways we will try to protect orchids in Finland - if you have any other ideas, please contact us! 
 



 
 These page have been made and updated by Matti Niissalo, sophronitis@yahoo.com