‘Plantito, plantita’ craze puts Mt. Busa orchids at risk, biologist warns

Orchid species that can be found on Mt. Busa in Kiamba, Sarangani Province – known for its diverse biodiversity – are at risk.

The highest peak in the province, with its elevation of about 2,046 meters above sea level, Mt. Busa is a high-priority conservation site in the Philippines and a key biodiversity area given its diverse flora and fauna.

For one, the mountain is home to the rare Guttman stream frog that was spotted only last March after three decades. It is also home to 108 orchid species, 53 of them endemic. 

But a biologist has warned that Mt. Busa’s orchids are now at risk of depletion, mainly because of the “plantito/plantita” craze that gained popularity amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Orchids under threat of poaching

Kier Mitchel Pitogo, who has authored a study on the richness and distribution of orchids in Mt. Busa’s forests, said that orchids are one of the “most poached flora” in the Philippines and in the world. Data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) showed that about 8.15% – or 97 species – of the Philippines’ orchids are threatened.

In an administrative order it issued in 2017, DENR named these orchids: the critically endangered Grammatophyllum wallisii, the endangered Phalaenopsis sanderiana, Phalaenopsis reichenbachiana, and Renanthera monachica, and the vulnerable Phalaenopsis mariae. 

Pitogo and his colleagues also discovered a new orchid species in Mt. Busa: the Oberonia serrulata, which was thought to grow only in New Guinea.

Photo by Aljohn Jay Saavedra.

While orchids are of high value because they are traded for horticulture, medicine, and food, locals have been observed to collect them for ornamental purposes. 

And because of the growing demand for these orchids due to the “plantito/plantita” trend, biologists have not discounted the possibility of poachers infiltrating Mt. Busa, making it vulnerable to illegal activities and threatening the diverse orchid flora in the process.

If the public continues to be complacent, indiscriminate collections of wild plants may encourage more extensive wildlife poaching, which, in turn, may lead to local extinction, Pitogo said. 

“We should be responsible plantitos or plantitas by being aware of where our plants came from. If there is an increase in the demand for wild plants then we would expect that the intensity and incidence of wildlife poaching also increases,” he added.

As the craze continues, Pitogo said that the public must be properly informed if they are buying wild-sourced plants to make sure that the demand for these will decrease. 

Sellers, he said, should also be told that the Philippine Wildlife Act (RA 9147) prohibits the collection of plants from the wild, including those that may be poached from Mt. Busa.

“By informing the public about the Philippine species that are protected under the wildlife law, we can consequently help in mitigating the collection and poaching of plants from the wild,” he added.

In demand, but underappreciated

But while the orchids of Mt. Busa are growing in demand, their impact to the environment and their nearby local communities remains underappreciated.

For one, Pitogo explained, orchids are considered as bio-indicators and play lots of roles in the ecology of an area. Orchids are sensitive to their environment and need to meet certain conditions to survive.

“Significant change in the orchid flora would indicate that there is something wrong in the environment, or that poachers have infiltrated the area,” he said.

Mt. Busa has helped the MAKIMA (Maitum-Kiamba-Maasim, Sarangani) area and its neighboring towns sustain the lives and livelihood of residents. The mountain also functions as a watershed.

Because of the rich diversity of Mt. Busa’s orchid flora, Sarangani’s provincial board declared it a local conservation area in a resolution filed in 2020. 

But further protection, conservation, and scientific attention would be needed from the national government. In line with this, Pitogo has called for Mt. Busa’s inclusion in the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System (ENIPAS), believing his extensive research on Mt. Busa’s orchids provides enough ground for this call.

Moreover, he said, he hopes his work will give more importance to the underrepresented biodiversity in Mindanao, including that of Mt. Busa.

“Orchids are popular [among] the public so we wanted to use their popularity to bring attention to the undervalued and understudied rich biodiversity here in southern Mindanao. Especially the Busa mountain range which needs protection and conservation,” he said. – Rappler.com

This story was written by Yla Viktorja Balicaco of Palawan as a final output for AYEJ.org’s Green Beat Program, an intensive virtual environmental journalism training for young writers and journalists supported by the US embassy in the Philippines.