Why Filipinos SHOULD declare live plants and specimens to customs
Filipinos are just so stubbornly great at doing this, that it makes me mad.
Philippine coconut plantations are in danger of facing an infestation that threatens to wipe out the country’s $ 760 million coconut industry in three years’ time. The culprit?
A pest. The coconut hispid beetle, that feeds on young leaves, spears (‘fruit’) and even mature palms.
And why am I blaming Filipinos for it? Because the pest is an import, most probably illegally smuggled from ornamental plants brought in from Thailand and Vietnam.
ARRGH! That’s why there is (or should be!)a strict law enforced against carrying live plants or animals into and out the country. Uninspected imported plants carry pathogens (pests/bacteria/insects) that could harm or displace our native faura and fauna.
Take for example the golden apple snail. Decades ago, the Philippines imported the snails because someone thought they were delicacies. Well they are. Except they don’t have a natural predator in Philippines paddies and swamps. So the snails increased without hindrance and invaded everywhere, and now… well, they are now pests, eating rice plants before they can mature.
Now it’s the coconut. GRR. It makes me so mad that people just don’t understand. This is the same reason why when you fly intercontinental, the stewards ask you to throw away any fruit that you brought in the plane, and the customs agents ask you to declare live plants and specimens. It’s to protect the country you are arriving to. It’s the same principle why airlines won’t let you fly if you carry bird flu or any contagious disease, and why customs quarantine you if you do.
Read more about the coconut industry threat at Visayan Daily and PGRNews.
2 Comments
I was fascinated at seeing a few possum type animals climbing the very large cluster of overgrown bamboo trees at the back of our new house, that I had to search what they were and found this site.
Now forget the possum, this Hispid beetle is a regular site here and killed 3 myself in the 3 months i have been living here, never knew about it before until I killed that one, and its a nasty looking creature too with a hiss like a snake, I got many pictures of them too to send home to UK.
Yes customs in Australia are exceptionally hard on stamping out the imports of plants animals and fruit, and it is mostly Asians who do the importing unaware of the declaration procedure. Great Site, having good time browsing it.
arr… ay agree wid yah… dey shuld stop importing dose darn bugs…