Slipper orchids slipping away

Continuing with the horticulture theme, I'm just home from Kew Gardens, a special visit for the Orchids Festival which this year celebrates flora from Brazil. Some years I don't make it (how can I be busy for 28 days at a stretch?!) but this month I did and once again, all was breathtaking. Having said that, I could have done without the life-size 'explosive' Carnival dancer structures, with all their feathers over-powering the beautiful orchids and bromeliads. However the airborne installations and planting around pools and boulders were all as stunningly wondrous as ever.
Reading around my visit a little, I discover that orchids are the largest family of flowering plants in the world, with around 28,000 species. The very extraordinary slipper orchid which has a starring role in Kew displays, is just one 'subfamily' but many species are close to extinction. Across Asia, Europe and the Americas they are threatened by such as land development in China, wildfire in Mexico, deforestation in the Amazon plus over-collection or downright theft in all areas which are not protected. So that's another cause to campaign for, championed here by the wonderful folks at Kew Gardens.