Aquatic ornamental plants:

An industry for the future

Aquatic ornamental plants are used for the decoration of ponds or aquaria. The most popular modern day ornamental aquarium plants are Anubias, Cryptocoryne, Echinodorous, Aponogeton, Hygrophyla, Bacopa, Hydrilla, Cabomba, Myriophyllum, Lagenandra, Vallisneria and Elodea.

Among these species, Cryptocoryne, Lagenandra and Aponogeton are the most important aquarium plants in Sri Lanka. The importance of ornamental aquatic plants is inseparable from that of ornamental fish. They have through time, gained value as both an aesthetically and ecologically useful partner in ornamental fish aquaria.

Market

For many years, Europe was the strongest market for aquatic plants. The Netherlands alone produced and imported more than US$ one million worth of aquatic ornamental plants. But a growth in demand has been experienced in the US market also as species, variety and quality has increased. International demand for aquatic plants has shown a steady increase in the past few years. Singapore reported an export of aquatic ornamental plants of US$ six million in 1992.

Within this world scenario, Sri Lanka has now firmly established as a supplier of freshwater aquatic plants in bulb form, cuttings and whole plants. While there is an increase in demand in the world trade for aquatic plants, Sri Lanka still experiences a shortage of stocks for export purposes.

In Sri Lanka, a greater proportion of aquarium plants for export are collected from the wild. At present, around fifty species and varieties of aquatic plants are collected from wild (inland waters) by suppliers for exporters in the ornamental fish industry. They purchase their requirements from collectors and each exporter has his/her own undisclosed areas for collection.

Constraints

Little effort has been made in the past to develop stocks, of aquatic plants either through collection from the wild and propagating in farms or through importing high demand varieties and maintaining them as parent stock.

A breach in communication between the large, established exporters and the small scale farmers in rural areas, who have access to various aquatic plants with high demand, is also pointed out as a barrier encountered in developing the ornamental aqua plant industry in Sri Lanka.

Research carried out in the field of fresh water aqua plants in Sri Lanka are inadequate. This in turn has a negative impact on the development of new varieties of fresh water ornamental plants which may have a higher demand in the export market. There is a need to identify more marketable varieties with methodologies to propagate them fast. Skilled personnel and new techniques are required for further development of the industry where the State has a role to play. The private sector too lacks the initiative in this respect.

Threat to environment

Continuous exploitation of selected species in the wild, may cause considerable damage to the biodiversity of aquatic plants and endanger some. Many plant genera including Crytocorine, Aponogeton and Lagenandra that are endemic but not listed as threatened species in 1998, became highly threatened in 1999 because of the ruthless exploitation.

The removal of even one aquatic plant species from the natural communities can disturb the balance in the ecosystem and cause valuable genetic resources to disappear. The most unfortunate part is that many species of Aponogeton, Cryptocorine and Lagenandra are collected along with the soil and as consequence other fauna and flora are also affected. Usually these plants form a live mat over river banks and streams, preventing soil erosion even under heavy rain conditions.

Once these natural covers are removed, banks of the rivers are subject to heavy erosion and that could contribute to many other environmental hazards such as floods and silting of water reservoirs.

Conclusion

At present, the Sri Lanka aquatic plant industry depends exclusively on endemic species of Cryptocorine, Lagenandra and Aponogeton as the plants are considered very good in the international market. It is questionable whether the industry can survive or improve through wild collection which leads to depletion of plants in their natural habitats. The Government has therefore imposed stringent rules and regulations to protect the natural habitats.

Source: Based on an article written by NAQDA Senior Aquaculturist Champa Dissanayake.