Solutions
Even
though the situation Sarracenia are
in seems dire and almost hopeless, there is hope. There are many organizations
in the US and some that are international that are solely dedicated to
protecting carnivorous plants. Some of these include the International
Carnivorous Plant Society, the North American Sarracenia Conservancy, and the Florida Carnivorous Plant Society.
Some other larger groups like the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and the Nature
Conservancy also actively participate in conserving Sarracenia and Sarracenia habitat.
The nonprofit organization I contacted
was the North American Sarracenia
Conservancy (NASC). The NASC is actively involved in many Sarracenia conservation efforts. First, they have established a
seed bank along with an ex-situ conservation program. The organization has
designated Sarracenia growers around
the US. These are people that have presented evidence of having the necessary
experience in to grow Sarracenia
successfully under their methods and location. These volunteers receive
collected Sarracenia or seed from the
seed bank. All seed or plants are specifically labeled and identified with a
horticultural tag. The tag identifies the species or hybrid parentage of the Sarracenia as well as its location data
(where the plant or seed was collected). The growers grow the plants and if the
NASC ever conducts a reintroduction, these plants may be used to be
placed back into the wild.
Additionally, the NASC stresses in-situ
conservation, even though it is increasingly difficult as time goes by.
Whenever possible the organization makes landowners aware of threatened Sarracenia that are found on their
properties to prevent development. When development is not prevented, the NASC and
other organizations work in conjunction with state authorities to remove Sarracenia and other threatened
carnivorous plants from the area. The plants then go into the ex-situ
conservation program.
The NASC also works to educate the
public about Sarracenia and other
conservation issues. Again, this is done through volunteers and presentations
are done in libraries, elementary schools, and other locations. To raise money
the organization holds online auctions that depend solely on the donations of
carnivorous plant hobbyists. In the past, proceeds from the annual auctions has
gone to aid the efforts in preserving two prime Sarracenia habitat locations, Myrtle Head Savannah Reserve in North
Carolina and the Splinter Hill Bog Reserve in Alabama.
Lastly, Mark Todd of the NASC recently
worked in conjunction with the Nature Conservancy and the North Carolina
Botanical Garden in North Carolina to reintroduce both Venus Flytraps (Dionaea muscipula) and Sarracenia that had previously been
poached. The plants were recovered from an illegal vendor
and spent one year recovering at the Chapel Hill Botanic Gardens. This
reintroduction, though, offered a chance to perform an new experiment. The
volunteers treated the plants with a long-lasting colorless dye that glows
under UV light (blacklighting). The treatment was executed in order to easily
identify poached plants in the future. If a plant is suspected of being a
poached plants at a plant sale (for example), all officials have to do is use a
blacklight to confirm if the plant was collected from the wild. If the plant
was stained, it will glow. This treatment process is relatively new, however.