London Reception on Illegal Wildlife Trade

Jacob attended an evening reception at Durbar Court, marking the 100-day countdown to the 2018 Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London. This inter-governmental meeting will draw ministers from across the world to discuss their responses to illegal wildlife trade.

Hosted by the Former Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, Jacob represented the Lancaster Environment Centre and the IUCN Orchid Specialist Group-Global Trade Programme. He presented Ministers Coffey, Gove and Goldsmith with (greenhouse grown) Cymbidium orchids, to remind them that wildlife trade includes not only charismatic megafauna, but also thousands of plants--including hundreds of orchid species traded as

(Minister Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with his orchid. Please note, we think this guy is a force of evil, and we find ourselves challenged over whether and how to engage/disengage with the anti-people and anti-environment Tory establishment.)

ornamental, medicinal and edible products (see our recent review on global illegal orchid trade, Hinsley et al. 2017).