03 February 2011, 18:00
Red Book orchids are liquidated in Cape Vidny, ecologists say
As reported by activists of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", in Cape Vidny, where the customer's service of the Directorate for Complex Reconstruction of Railways and Construction of Railway Objects in Sochi (DKRS-Sochi) of the Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) "Russian Railways" is running some construction, part of Red Book plants - wild orchids - were cut away.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that earlier, after holding examination, it was decided to transplant rare plants and flowers away from the territory of the Cape; however, according to ecologists, once transplanted, the plants will no longer be within their natural environment.
Alexander Solodsko, Candidate of Agriculture and Chairman of the Sochi Branch of the Russian Geographical Society, notes that if the plants are transplanted anywhere, they will no longer be a monument of nature.
"Orchids won't be possible to restore at all; it is a very complicated flower," he said. "We stand for preservation of the ecosystem of the Cape.
By his estimate, many plant varieties that grow here cannot exist one without other. If you transplant wild growing orchids, they will stop being wild and become graded.
In the meantime, the ecological post in Cape Vidny is still maintained. Activists are permanently present there, not allowing the builders to continue cutting down the trees.
Author: Lydia Mikhalchenko Source: CK correspondent
