Botanist looks to Cambodia for new orchid species
They were among the first botanists to search the surrounding lush green “Cardamom Mountains” for undiscovered orchid species. Because the region was the scene of a bloody conflict until the late 1990s, people have kept their distance. As a result, its nature has remained largely untouched and intact.
The researchers had just a week to carry out their mission. Every day, they set off in the early hours of the morning, hiking to altitudes of 900 meters. Accompanied by members of the forest department and four soldiers with machine guns slung over their shoulders, they waded through rivers and clambered up steep slopes. The armed men were ostensibly there to protect the research team, but Schuiteman says they turned out to be helpful amateur scientists.
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