Overharvesting to meet skyrocketing demand in Turkey and elsewhere is placing the endemic wild orchid population in Pindos mountain, northwestern Greece at risk, according to a team of scientists studying the flowers, ANA reports.
A key ingredient for the production of salep, a popular sweet drink, and Turkey’s mastic ice cream dondurma, the dried orchid is now fetching prices as high as 90-120 euros per kilo on the black market.
“The wild orchids are strictly protected under Greek laws but most people don’t know this. Even though our results show that local traditional collection is of a relatively limited extent and scale, in recent years the phenomenon of ‘looting’ harvesting is increasingly observed. In addition to orchids, it also concerns other medicinal plants, herbs, edible mushrooms and truffles as a result of global pressure for ‘wild’ and ‘traditional’ products, transforming the former foods of the poor into foods for the rich,” the head of the team Kalliopi Stara told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA).
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