Plant Thieves Scour Forests to Satisfy Foliage-Starved Filipinos
- Bureau agents step up surveillance to catch green gangsters
- Demand has pushed up prices of some species by more than 300%
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The pandemic has set off a wave of theft in the Philippines. The target? Plants.
The government has stepped up monitoring of social media and patrolling of protected natural areas amid reports of traders scouring mountains and forests for plants, including endangered species, to meet a sudden spike in demand from locked-down Filipinos who are craving some greenery in their homes.