Conservation Education and Science
NATURE EXCHANGE

RULES & GUIDELINES

STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY

Educational institutions concerned with the stewardship of the living world and the preservation of biodiversity, must provide leadership in the following areas:

  • the teaching of conservation ethics to the communities that they serve and the daily living out of those values
  • the development of a culture of care giving for all living species
  • the promotion of laws and agreements regarding acquisition, possession and trade of all natural items

THE NATURE EXCHANGE TRADING GUIDELINES

  1. No items will be traded from the institutions, collection, either living or dead/plant or animal
  2. No items will be traded that are regulated by the U.S. Endangered Species Act, CITES or other local, national or international regulations or agreements. Specific requirements for confiscation and reporting will be strictly adhered to. (eg. no eggs, feathers or nests).
  3. No items will be traded that involve taxidermy, whether they are skins, furs or mounted specimens
  4. "Killed" items will not be accepted for trading, however points will be awarded only for information sharing and understanding. Items will be sent home with suggestions for disposal.
  5. "Hunted" items will be accepted for trade, however fewer points will be awarded for the actual item itself than if the item were "found"
  6. "Found" items will be accepted for trade, based upon legal, ethical and sanitary considerations

Examples of tradeable items:

  • Items will be accepted for trade that are not derived from the natural world, but which act as interpretations, copies or artistic representations, including:photographs, drawings, sculptures, books/stories, castings, rubbings with due consideration given to storage and tradability issues.
  • Items will be accepted for trade that are derived from the non-living natural world including: rocks, fossils, sand, "dirt" with careful consideration of the legal issues called into question by the acts of such collecting activity.
  • Specific items will be accepted for trade that are derived from the living world including: plant materials, seeds, leaves, pressed plants, wood, animal materials including:
    • animal "homes" (permanent and temporary) such as shells, cocoons, wasps nests, spider webs
    • animal "cast-offs" such as hair, teeth, antlers, snake skins
    • animal "bones" including turtle shells, exoskeletons (bugs, butterflies, crustaceans)

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