Endangered Wild Lophs

[wisemonkey]

Just been reading about how lophs are moving towards extinction in the wild through overharvesting. I was wondering what people thought about this and whether there are any groups that are acting to conserve the species. Also any comments on the appropriateness of wild harvesting in north USA and mexico.

[Viking]

yeah i've heard the same thing wisemonkey,

i think it is due to people not knowing only buttons should be used to conserve the plant,

most people are just raping (excuse the term) the plant and wild where it grows because of lack of knowledge..

mescaline should mainly be used as a "mind-expanding" drug (in my opinion) and less as a party drug.

i think its just people "wanting to get high" and not thinking about the reprocussions(sp?) and what its doing to nature...

its just like bogan-littering mushie patch rapists only these plants a yrs old (in the 100's or more ive read) but no-body seems to care.

stompy

[Gunter]

Some types and forms are said to have been extinct now for some time, thought they may remain in cultivation.

I think there are two main types of negative attention hurting the populations, the first is improper harvesting by people who don't know what they are doing, these are those typically who only know it is psychoactive and know little else about it. The second type of bad attention is far more severe and that is the eradication of it on purpose by Texas rangers and other LE agents as that it is a "drug plant". Confiscated live plants are also killed despite the endangered status and cultivation is not federally protected.

Trout reports that the group that issues license for Peyote harvest has no plans to issue new ones, ever, because "there will be no need". It may be on its way to cultigen status.

One of my main fears is that the same types of ignorance and discrimination that threaten Lophophora may once threaten the existence of San Pedro and allies.

[wisemonkey]

I do wonder if those of us cultivating the plant have some sort of responsibility to take steps to assist in the conservation of the wild populations, even if it is difficult from this country. Not quite sure how but would be good to give something back to the plants.

[Andy the Great Something]

Yeah, it is dissapearing rappidly in the wild, not only by the hands of hapless drug seekers, but by the encroachment of land developers, farmers, ranchers and housing developments. Even worse, I've seen documentaries put out on the NAC from which you see licensed peyotero's regularly using improper technique in harvesting. In those cases it appears as if they just use a shovel to chop it off at the tap root at ground level, which doesn't give the little ones a very good chance of survival. It hurts me that the main user of the peyote is the NAC and yet they do very little to ensure the species. I suspect there are more of these cultivated commercially/privately than in the wild already. But their future is secure at least......... and there are a few wild reserves...... even in non-traditionaly ground for them like in parts of Arizona.

[Flip]

According to J. Otts pharmacotheon

The Native American Church gets peyote at a cut rate price from the harvesters

and refuse to switch to any of the other mescaline containing cacti.

The cacti is highly endangered over it's northern range

The USA government refuses to listen to the scientific community and take appropriate action

to protect it due to politics and the WoD.

Improper harvesting, "Development" and greater access to locals (Dirt Bikes and ATV's)

in addition to those after the drug bragging rights

are pushing this right into extinction. I really wish that as a culture, people would wake up to the idea

that they shouldn't be hunting this plant in the wild but cultivating it (where legal to do so)

I bet that the vast majority of those random users that are eating the plant aren't even taking the time

to tease out any seeds that may be trapped by the cacti.

It's a sad situation.

[Rev]

If i lived in its range id be doing a few things\

finding plants and recording their location

collecting seeds, germinating them and planting a few back to expand populations

planting more where it looks they should be but aren't

sending seed to other collectors to expand worldwide diversity

doing this id be comfortable taking a small non commercial harvest of buttons to use alongside sth american species

Thankfully the grafting techniques with pereskiopsis and trichocereus means this is no longer a slow growing species and many individuals can be made from a clone and much seed produced in only a few years, whereas once it would have taken decades and all this is low tech stuff

I feel what we really need to do is conserve as much material as possible in well labelled collections so that the appropriate plants can be put back into their remnant habitat one day

recovery COULD be fast when and if the time comes if this resource is managed right and there are plenty of volunteers to assist

in the best of all possible futures

[Gunter]

I agree, it is possible for the plant to be saved from extinction through cultivation for conservation and naturalization, site preservation, the reduction of harvest pressures through alternative production methods like grafting, and several other measures and methods.

If the NAC and the government will not step up to the challenge then it must and will be done privately.

[Amulte]

i trust in the good people of The Peyote Way.. i heard that they got authority to protect various types of Loph, including the non-active as well as active. that was a few months ago, i cant anything on the site about it but they have started building shadhouses for more Lophs. i know they already had 2 shadeROOMs that they grew their actives in, but i gather the near shadeHOUSEs are for the the other species, aswell as an upgrade.

il still saving to go visit and learn from them. takes alot of time to save the money needed to visit the states for 6 months.

check out their greenhouse project.