The Orchid Outlaw Ben Jacob

 I have had an interest in British native orchids for over twenty years and have travelled widely to see these plants.  The title consequently held an irresistable allure.

This is first and foremost a very good read.  It can be enjoyed simply because Ben tells a good tale.  There is more however and the book gives us some interestinhg historical content, it enlightens us on some legal matters and it shows how environmental protections often fall well short of what we expect of them.

Ben is an outlaw but one with laudable motives.  He transgresses the law in digging up orchids that he knows are about to be destroyed in a way that does not beak the law.  He tells us that environmental impact assessments which are required before construction projects can proceed are often inadequate; they can fail to identify the presence of orchids simply because they are hard to detect and would need to be searched for at restricted times of the year and with great diligence. 

The breeding biology of orchids is complex and differs in many ways from most other vascular plants.  Having read this book I now understand aspects of orchid anatomy and physiology that were never clear to me before.  We all know that Darwin was a remarkable scientist but I certainly did not know that he studied orchids in great detail and discovered aspects of their cross-polination that were new to me.

Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside act of 1981 gives greater protection to a select group of plants that includes eleven orchid species but omits some seriously declining species.  Even these species that have enhanced legal protection are left vulnerable as they can be desroyed if their destruction was unforseen - this is quite a get out !

Ultimately this is an inspirational account of one man's mission to save a group of plants that is just one small part of the threatened wildlife of out own country and of the world.