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FEATURE

Several Conophytum species are threatened with extinction due to mining and poaching from the wild for the black market. There are currently 86 species of Conophytums on
the critically endangered list, compared to 16 in 2019. This is a dramatic change, due entirely to the illegal trade in South African flora.

ILLEGAL TRADE IN SUCCULENTS

For decades, collectors, ‘researchers’ and commercial growers have visited succulent rich
areas across the globe, amassing collections of unique plants sourced from the wild. In

South Africa, the ongoing trade in wild-collected plants was highlighted in a 1998 report
by TRAFFIC, with indiscriminate collection dating as far back as the early 1940s and
accelerating during the 1970s.

he practice, involving collectors and than 20-50 years and are slow growing, illegal collection of plants from the wild
commercial growers visiting succulent meaning that it not easy to obtain large since 2019 as is evidenced by:
Tplant hotspots and collecting plants quantities and large specimens through • an increase in the volumes of confiscated
for export back to their countries, continues artificial propagation. However, many species plant materials now under the care of the
today. Several commercial nurseries within are easy to propagate from seed and/or state; and
South Africa have also been operating cuttings and have been widely cultivated • the worsening conservation statuses of
under these practices – collecting wild across the globe. The concern is that trends plant species across several in-demand
plants and laundering them into the trade. move quickly, and once commercial growers plant groups observed between 2020
Presently, South Africans involved in the can produce one species at scale, the demand and 2022.
removal of wild plants supply middle-men, shifts to other not-yet-widely available
traders and collectors overseas. The scale of species, with several plant groups thus In the past four years, confiscated material
illegal collection and trade has increased remaining at risk from illegal wild collection. has increased annually by over 200%, and to
dramatically over the past few years, most date there have been 650 different species
notably within the Succulent Karoo region, Species most targeted by collectors and more than 1.2 million wild harvested
with severe impacts for many species Presently, different types of succulent plants plants seized. While law enforcement and
and no tangible socio-economic benefits as well as geophytes (bulb species) are being reporting of the illegal harvesting is proving
accruing to the country. heavily targeted to supply a growing demand valuable, it is suspected that less than 25%
within specialist horticultural markets. of the trade is intercepted by enforcement
Why are South Africa’s plants being There are many reasons for this, but officials, and it is likely that >1.5 million
stolen? limited research in consumer countries has plants have been removed from the wild in
Over the past few years there has been a been undertaken to sufficiently understand the past three years.
rise in the global demand for collectable the drivers of this demand. It has been
‘ornamental’ plants. South Africa is a country postulated that the evolution of social media Vulnerable regions
rich in botanical diversity and many of the platforms and online trading has contributed The Succulent Karoo biome, stretching from
country’s unique species, including leafy to the demand for rare and unique species, Luderitz in Namibia, down the west coast of
succulents, caudiciform succulents and bulbs, and this may be one of the reasons why South Africa and eastwards into the little
are prized for their alluring characteristics certain plants are targeted. Mostly these Karoo in the Western Cape, is famed for its
and rarity, and are desired by specialist plant plants are wanted for their aesthetic value. high diversity of succulent plant species.
collectors around the world. An expressed Many plants are also prized for their rarity The region is one of only two arid
interest in certain growth forms has resulted and in the case of cycads, for example, hotspots in the world, with many of the
in a new market place for rare flora. high values are placed on wild specimens, species found nowhere else on Earth. Many
This explosive demand has given rise resulting in many species remaining at risk species being targeted are found here
to large-scale collection and trade of wild of illegal collection and trade. and are often restricted endemic species,
plants from the country. It is speculated The challenge of illegal harvest and sometimes occurring at one single location,
that the trends are due largely to a limited trade in succulent and other collectable and thus making them highly vulnerable to
supply of many species in cultivation within plants is one of the major biodiversity being poached to extinction.
emerging markets. challenges facing the country. SANBI and Several non-Karoo succulent species
Some targeted species survive for more its partners have seen an increase in the in other parts of the country have also

10 Landscape SA • Issue 129 2023