The CITES Convention is turning 50! It governs international wildlife trade around the world and is the basis for many national laws. But, how are CITES commitments reflected in national laws to manage threatened biodiversity? A thread about my first lead author paper! 1/5

CITES is important, but it is national legislation that informs species protection, harvest rules, bureaucratic roles, rights, etc... It ultimately shapes outcomes, but conservationists are often not very familiar with the laws governing the #species we most care about. 2/5

We propose an approach for more thorough evaluations of sub-national legislation - Across areas of law - Hierarchical levels - Types of legislation We use the example of Nepal’s orchids, which are governed by over 55 legislation! Similar complexity likely faces other taxa. 3/5

Addressing legal and illegal wildlife trade requires a more detailed understanding of sub-national legislation. Here’s how you can do it for your species: bit.ly/3kvXbKl 4/5

7th International Orchid Workshop Challenges and Opportunities in Orchid Ecology and Conservation May 14-19 2023 Svachovka, Czech Republic orchid-workshop.cz Main topics: Models of orchid species distribution &population dynamics, Pollination, Mycorrhizas, Genetics, Taxonomy

@KewScience CITES KewGardens Keeper of the Herbarium @KewScience (1984-1995), Prof. Grenville Lucas, was one of the few botanists present and "exerted much influence on how the provisions on plants were drafted, noting the key differences from animals" in #CITES (linnean.org/news/2022/12/1…)

It's 50 years since #CITES came into being: see x.com/KewScience/sta…

fox13news.com/news/florida-k…

An orchid appears in the #Doodle artwork on #Google today featuring spring flowers in celebration of #Nowruz 2023 - #Ophrys apifera is not a spring flower (at least not this far north!), but it's good to see #orchids included 😍. Happy Nowruz to those who celebrate! #Orchidaceae

Good news! Our article on #hybridization in #Orchis received enough downloads to be a #topdownloadedarticle in American Journal of Botany Botanical Society of America #Orchids #Orchidaceae bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.100…

The March 2023 Newsletter is now available on the Orchid Specialist Group website. Thanks as always to Marilyn, the Editor, and to the contributors. orchidspecialistgroup.com/newsletters

#Orchidaceae is a hyperdiverse family of spectacular beauty. Today, we published maps of phylogenetic & taxonomic measures of distinctiveness & rarity & identified locations & species in urgent need of #conservation. Paper led by Pati Vitt Scientific Reports: rdcu.be/daIbH

Thursday was a busy day! #Dendrophylax lindenii flowered for the first time in the UK - KewGardens, and the Press loved it 😍. #FloridaGhostOrchid #Orchidaceae #orchids #conservation

Thrilled to announce that the website for the 8th International Orchid Conservation Congress (#IOCC8) in Perth (12-14 September 2024 + fieldtrips) has been launched: iocc8.com. Save the dates! More information will come soon.