Text and Photos by Pat Werner, originally published in Nica News 14 (June 1998)

	Biodiversity is becoming less and less diverse. Progress for one reason or another into heretofore remote areas appears to ignore the natural wealth already there. And the marketing of what remains... seems that everyone has their own particular definition of "green".

Flowers versus Towers

One of the most striking views in west Nicaragua is found from atop Mombacho Volcano on a clear day. A treasure chest of tropical flora and fauna, Mombacho has been the subject of investigation and admiration since the days of Pablo Levy last century and the renowned Nicaraguan professor Ramírez Goyena early this century.

More than those of any other Nicaraguan hilltop, the orchids of Mombacho have been studiously examined most recently by John Atwood, presently of the Marie Selby Gardens of Sarasota, Florida. His work, and that of the late Alfonso Heller, godfather of cataloguing Nicaragua's orchids, has clearly established the primacy of Mombacho as a preserve of Nicaragua's most beautiful and rarest orchids. Heller found and identified at least two species found only on the slopes of Mombacho and nowhere else in the world: the Maxillaria mombachoensis and the Epidendrum glumarum. Together Heller and Atwood found more than a hundred species of orchids on the slopes of Mombacho.

Of those two endemic orchid species, I have never been able to find Epidendrum glumarum. My search for Maxillaria mombachoensis proved more successful, and a few years ago I happened upon one in flower, perhaps one of the first times that this rare and beautiful orchid, and so much a part of Nicaragua's national and natural heritage, has been photographed in bloom.

One of the most beautiful characteristics of Mombacho is that it is relatively flat on top, forming an area called the Plains of Flowers, or Plan de Flores. Located at an elevation of 1,220 meters, it used to be adorned with uncounted thousands of orchids, the great majority of them pertaining to four closely related species of the genus Sobralia, and the ubiquituous clinging Epidendrum radicans. Especially in late December, when the breaking winds clear the skies of Nicaragua, a visit to the Plan de Flores is unforgettable, both for the majestic vista and the thousands of Sobralia blooming at that time of the year.

The flower of Sobralia is large and resembles nothing so much as a large iris, a common showy ornamental plant in North America. Albeit common, the flower and plant are little studied since the flower blooms for only a few hours before withering and death. The Plan de Flores was a mecca for botanists given its great concentration of Sobralia and other little known orchids, all in an area of about 10 acres, no more.

	Sombralia macrantha in bloom, one of the little-known orchids to be found on the slopes of the Mombacho Volcano. Photo: Pat Werner..

Prosperity brought more radio towers to Mombacho. In 1993, I sojourned to the summit of Mombacho with Raul Calvet, owner of Careli Tours. I was impressed with the flurry of construction of new relay towers on Mombacho. One was planted in the area where I had found the Maxillaria mombachoensis the year before. The trees upon which I had found the orchid had been chopped down and burned: no sign was left of the plant I had photographed. I have not seen another example of Maxillaria mombachoensis since.

Another beauty spot atop Mombacho was a small patch of dwarf forest, very rare, very beautiful, one only documented on Momabacho. In that forest, the trees were covered with a very rare and beautiful orchid, Elleanthus tonduzii, found only in Nicaragua and Panama. Each May for several years I had admired its bright orange flowers. In 1993, I found that this dwarf forest had been razed to make room for the supporting cables of a new broadcast tower. I showed Calvet the shriveled remains of a few dead plants. It seems Elleanthus tonduzii has been disappeared from Mombacho.

A more shocking discovery occurred in 1996 when I led a group of students from the University of Mobile up the slopes of Mombacho. I could not find any Sobralia orchids. Where many thousands of Sobralia were in the early 1990s, now there were none. I asked around among the locals and was told of some highly-organized orchid collecting activities. I called several newspapers and radio stations, but found no interest in publicizing this massive theft of some of Nicaragua's most beautiful orchids.

Though Mombacho has been a national park for some years, it only recently has had an effective management system to control the illegal collecting of its many orchids. The present management of Mombacho by the Cocibolca Foundation -headed by Dr. Jaime Incer and managed by Juan Carlos Martínez- two of Nicaragua's most prestigious and competent biologists, has taken the necessary steps to stop the illegal collecting of orchids on Mombacho and hopefully will be able to put a brake on future attempts to build more radio towers on Mombacho. In time, if the illegal collection of the remaining orchids can be stopped and no new towers are built, the Plan de Flores may be able to recover from its partial destruction. Nicaraguans and the expatriate community should support the Cocibolca Foundation and their efforts to preserve the beauty of Mombacho and perhaps to once again be able to see Maxillaria mombachoensis, one of Nicaragua's rarest and most noble orchids.