The International Carnivorous Plant Society takes strong stands on conservation and land stewardship values. Field collection is condemned by the Society as unethical, especially when plants are so freely available from nursery grown stock. The introduction of plants into the wild, especially when far out of the plant's natural range (and not part of a valid restoration project) is equally regarded as unethical.

Policy Statements

1. ICPS is dedicated to understanding, preserving, growing, selecting, propagating, studying, and appreciating the natural flora of the earth with special interest in carnivorous plants.

2. Above all, we support efforts to protect wild habitats as sources for genetic variations and naturally thriving plants for generations to come.

   We believe habitat destruction, both planned and accidental, is responsible for the greatest loss of habitats and species in the word today and we deplore this situation.

   We strive to support those organizations around the world that seek to preserve valuable wildlife habitats, and we support field and media education as effective means of instilling respect for natural habitats.

   We also support the efforts of legitimate organizations that preserve genetically broad spectrum samples of threatened and endangered species as living materials with a view to replanting existent or reclaimed habitat.

   We discourage introduction of plant species into habitat where that genetic material has not or does not occur unless for closely monitored research purposes with a view to eventual removal of the inappropriate material and prevention of crossbreeding with naturally occurring plants while the study is in affect.

3. We are against the wholesale collecting for resale of wild plants from public lands, especially the rarer plants and abhor the practice of misleading the public by calling such collected plants nursery propagated by any stretch of the definition.

4. We support the practice of knowledgeable and responsible field collection only when (A)it is not in violation of the law (B)it is with the intention of introducing plants into cultivation by the collection of only a small amount of wild material (C)only a small percentage of plants are taken.

   We recognize that without experienced people with horticultural and/or botanical interests selecting and propagating species from the wild, there would be fewer choices of propagated horticultural material and consequent increased pressure on wild habitats with illegal or inappropriate collecting, and there would be less knowledge gathered on the nature of the plants.

   We would encourage collectors to be responsibly aware that rare plants merit special consideration and should not be distributed or propagules taken unless there is a sufficient local stock to successfully perpetuate the population. most cases this means no collecting should be done.