coral as a gift item

[NOHORA GALVIS _ PROF. FAC. CIENCIAS ECONOMICAS Y ADMINISTRATIVAS-.]

Dear sirs,
The artesanal production of artificial (synthetic or wood) organisms of
coral reefs would represent a good socioeconomic alternative for the
community that depend on the extraction of these organisms from natural
reefs. It would be interesting to have information of this kind of
activity in all coral reef areas to study their potential as a solution to
the ilegal market.
Best regards,
NOHORA GALVIS
Colombia

On Sat, 14 Aug 1999, Wendy Jo wrote:

> Tamara Greenleaf wrote:
> 
> > The question I have is,
> > HOW can a consumer make sure a coral item in a gift shop is legal?
> 
> 	Only an educated consumer will consult the shop owner and 
> ask where they came from. And hope the owner will be truthful. The 
> best way to educate the consumer is to push the peril of the reefs. 
> Hey, the fur activists did it. Wearing fur became socially 
> unacceptable. 
>  
> > Are there any circumstances in which a coral item being sold as a gift or
> > souvenir is okay?
> 
> 	Yes. If it's made of synthetic material.
> 
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Wendy Jo Shemansky
> Environmental News Director, Secretary
> West Penn Scuba Divers
> Environmental Science & Management Graduate Student
> Duquesne University
> Pittsburgh,PA
> slkyshrk at sgi.net
> 
> **** Think globally, act locally!****
>