Pandanus odoratissimus (Kewra)

[Munir]

Good discovery. I can also join in the effort,after more precise details are known. Good luck!

[KBW]

If we can find out the exact location maybe something can be worked out with friends who know friends or someone on the area. Sirji KBW if needed can you give directions?

Dr sahib we will go together when I come back to Pakistan, provided we agree to bring the seeds only and not disturb the plants growing naturally in their habitat. Please forgive me for this but you know studying plants in their natural habitat is my hobby. Since last 20 years however, I have not removed any wild plant from its habitat. I did this blunder a few times long ago and than promised myself never to do it again. These plants look so wonderful growing in Almighty's Garden and IMHO, should never be displaced from their homes. I hope you will understand.
Best regards

[aykhan]

I agree with you in principle but on rarer plants which require a unique habitat for example rarer types of orchids in rainforests and also would agree mass uprooting is unethical. However, personally I do not see any harm in taking a few roots of anything growing "wild" over large swathes of land which propagates easily in it's natural environment. Seeds, roots, offsets all similar to me. Please don't get me wrong, I respect your views and think similarly but our perspectives might be different in the current scenario.

I remember the Drimia bulbs in Petra Jordan I didn't uproot but had no problem buying already uprooted ones from the local Bedouin kids. They have a happy home here now in Lahore and seem to be doing well.

However, do not worry Sirji I do not think I can make the effort of going all the way down to Bahawalnagar at least for the foreseeable future. However, we would love to have the seeds if you do go there.

[M Farooq]

Waiting for the seed grown plants produce to flower will probably take decades. And as stated by Karachi University's botanists in their book "Flora of Pakistan", the female Pandanus are rare in Pakistan. Thus I don't expect seeds to be easily available. We grew it as a stem cutting of a male plant so the gender was known. From the seeds you have no clue of the gender.

KBW sb has a strong opinion about wildlife conservation because he has seen mass exploitation of plants for commercial purposes (e.g. as mentioned in one of his previous posts a nurseryman was selling an "imported" plant picked from the wild areas of Pakistan at a hefty price). This makes his perspective perfectly valid. However, my stance is little soft in the sense that for hobbyists it is okay to pick one sample from the wild for if it were a highly unethical action then there would be no botanical gardens and herbaria in the world.

[Hamad Ahmed Kisana]

my stance is little soft in the sense that for hobbyists it is okay to pick one sample from the wild for if it were a highly unethical action then there would be no botanical gardens and herbaria in the world.

i agree because after all purpose is to save and further expand the plant so it is not unethical action in my view.but i strongly respect sir KBW view about wild plants.

[KBW]

Brothers, thanks for understanding my point of view. I really appreciate it.

I do not doubt the intentions of any of you at all. The problem is that this is an open forum and we don't know who is accessing the information and how he will use it later. I spend lot of time in wilderness, whenever I get an opportunity, and have lot many things to share which I used to do openly on the forums and otherwise with people whom I would meet. However, I had bad experiences on few occasions. Many large size plants were taken out on the information shared by me (unintentionally rather innocently) and brought to the hosues where they died mostly or worst, sold in nurseries in Lahore and Islamabad etc at heavy rates. At a few places, birds, animals and fish were virtually elimated when I shared the information about them unintentionally. Of course mortality rate in such cases is over 50 % as the guys doing this job are not experts and do not resort to scentific methods.

I do hunt and fish a lot but I never violate the rules, the bag limits and try never to cause harm to the environment. I am very very particular about it and try not to violate it. Many a times me and my sons come back empty handed, despite having the opportunity, but do not violate the ethical rules we set for ourselves. At my own, I have tried to revive habitats at many places by replanting the local plants / trees and introducing local / native birds / animals / fish. Wildlife and plant life in those few locations is thriving well and I am proud of doing that. After those incidents however, I don't share the information about locations etc on open sources. I felt I was responsible for the carnage when I saw some of those large size plants being sold in nurseries of Islamabad, Lahore and Pattoki etc and the wildlife being eliminated mercilessly for commercial gains. I know this mafia will keep working because there are huge profits involved in it and there are rich people in cities who would pay them heavily just because they want to see their homes filled with rare plants and wild animals / birds. The mafia has uprooted hundreds and thousands of plants from the wild, captured the animals and birds and sold them to the city dwellers, making huge profits. Even taking out the date palm trees without any check for planting in big cities needs to taken very seriously.

Just for the knowledge of members, human beings did not invent Bonsais. They just understood how bonsais were formed in nature and copied the concept with methods of their own. Far flung locations in certain areas are full of natural bonsais which form in the rock crevices over the years. Some of them are hundreds of years old and some of the Juniper bonsais that I saw might have been thousands of years old I suspect. Had I desired, I had the opportunity to remove them from their habitat and fill my house with hundreds of bonsais which few people would have seen but I did not take out even a single plant. They look so wonderful in Almighty's Garden and we have no right to take them out from their homes just because we happen to like them. So I always resisted the temptation and never took out even a single plant. I am even very careful now that the pics that I post on internet do not contain those things in the background.

I understand that views like mine have no value and should actually be condemned because they directly go against the financial interest of few people and for a large majority of people, they do not matter because they have very limited understanding of environment. However, I will keep doing this all my life, Inshallah.

I agree with you that if there is a group of people who are mature, respect nature / environment and are reliable than one could always go and take out cutting, roots, seeds and even small plants etc from the wild, provided they have full understanding of what they are doing. Uprooting of large size plants should not be done, except officially by the concerned department for the purpose of research / saving a rare specie.

As I said, we will get in touch personally and do it when I come back to Pakistan. It's a very large wetland and not easily accessible. One may have to walk at many places and it would not be easy to search these plants without exact knowledge of location.

Best Regards

[aykhan]

Well said and appreciated.

[M Farooq]

I think when we discuss plant locations / addresses we can discuss it privately, just to avoid public disclosure - as per KBW sb wishes.

[Hamad Ahmed Kisana]

I understand that views like mine have no value and should actually be condemned because they directly go against the financial interest of few people and for a large majority of people, they do not matter because they have very limited understanding of environment. However, I will keep doing this all my life, Inshallah.

great...sir you are a true nature lover..thanks for describing whole matter briefly.

[newton]

This may be of use to readers who are unaware of the current legislation in regards of removing items from the wild specifically in designated areas, of course in private property it could be construed as theft, I presume the legislation is accurate and still enforceable?

I personally enjoy hunting (controlled and of non-endangered animals) and also plant collecting but include this for reference purposes

************************

THE PUNJAB WILDLIFE (PROTECTION, PRESERVATION, CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT) ACT, 1974

(Pb Act II of 1974)[/b]
18-A. Wildlife park, zoological garden or zoo and safari park.–(1) The Government may, by notification in the official gazette, declare an area which is the property of the Government or over which the Government has proprietary rights, to be a wildlife park to maintain wild animal in captivity and in a state as close to nature as possible, for the purpose of breeding, re-introduction, recreation and public education.

(2) The Government may, by notification in the official gazette, declare an area which is the property of the Government or over which the Government has proprietary rights, to be a zoological garden or zoo to maintain, breed locally extinct, endangered or threatened species of wild animal for re-introduction, recreation and public education.

(3) The Government may, by notification in the official gazette, declare an enclosed area which is the property of the Government or over which the Government has proprietary rights, to be a safari park in which wild animal shall be kept in the open space for viewing by public from a vehicle driven through.

(4) Wildlife park, safari park or zoological garden or zoo shall be accessible to public for recreation, education and research purposes, subject to such restrictions as the Government may impose.

(5) Provision for access roads to and construction of cafeteria, motel, laboratory, research centre and any other building in the wildlife park, safari park or zoological garden or zoo alongwith amenities for public may be made for the facilitation of achievement of, and the forest vegetation therein shall be so managed and forest produce so obtained as not to impair the objectives of the establishment of such parks or zoological garden or zoo.

(6) The following acts shall be prohibited in the wildlife park, safari park or zoological garden or zoo:-

(a) hunting, shooting, trapping, killing or capturing of a wild animal;

(b) firing or doing any other act which may disturb a wild animal or interfere with the breeding place of a wild animal;

(c) felling, tapping, burning or in any manner damaging, destroying, taking, collecting, removing or taking away any plant or tree or leave, fruit or seed therefrom;

(d) polluting water flowing in or through the wildlife park, zoological garden or zoo or safari park;

(e) any act of feeding or teasing a wild animal;

(f) damaging of any structure;

(g) any act of teasing or harassing visitor or otherwise, creating any pandemonium; and

(h) any act in violation of any restriction imposed by the Government:

Provided that the Government may for such purposes as it may deem expedient authorize the doing of any of the aforementioned prohibited act except at para (d), (e), (g) and (h).]