Collecting, mainly for the cut flower trade, is threatening the spectacular Sarracenia species in the acid peat-bogs, wet pine savanna and flatwoods of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi. Their conservation is a priority for the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Suriname protects tropical wilderness. The area, roughly the size of New Jersey, is totally uninhabited and forested, with a significant proportion still unexplored. US Focus on philanthropy .
Wealthy individuals can have a huge impact on conservation.
A few of the million millionaires and 200 billionaires in the United States are wilderness philanthropists, donating vast sums to buy up and protect threatened regions. As Wong Khoon Meng reports, it is now becoming a major destination for botanical travellers. The flora is estimated at a staggering 5000-6000 vascular plant species. Over a third have been documented from only a single locality. Khoon Meng describes the vegetation types of the mountain, from lowland rainforests girdling the base, to the lower montane zone with tall tropical oaks, chestnuts and laurels, to the upper montane zone, with dense moss forest, to the summit region itself, often shrouded in mist.