Cape Town – There has been a sharp rise in the illegal harvesting and subsequent trafficking and trading of rare succulent plants in the Western Cape, pushing some species to the brink of extinction in the wild.
According to CapeNature, the illegal removal of plants remains the most pervasive wildlife crime in the province. Trading and trafficking is being driven by demand from collectors and nurseries in East Asia, where the stolen plants fetch high prices.
CapeNature said the 2023 State of Biodiversity Report showed there had been a significant increase in succulent poaching and trafficking over the past five years.
In 2018/19, trafficking cases constituted just 4% of all cases registered. In 2019/20, succulent trafficking cases constituted 20% of all cases registered. In 2020/21, there was a sharp increase to 40%. The following year saw this rise to 54% of cases.
Over the past four years, authorities have seized more than 1.2 million illegally harvested wild plants across 650 different species. It is suspected that less than 25% of the trade is intercepted by enforcement officials.
CapeNature said the Western Cape was home to over 52% of all flora species in South Africa, with many of these plants being endemic.
It is this rarity that has made the plants a target for the poachers, who remove them from the wild and trade them.
“Globally, considered the second-biggest threat to the loss of species after environmental damage,” said CapeNature.
“Species of plants and animals that are threatened with extinction because of wildlife trade are protected by various laws at provincial, national and international levels. When these laws are breached it constitutes a wildlife crime, that is, when plants or animals are traded without permits.
The South African National Biodiversity Institute has also expressed concern about the poaching and illegal trade.
“The impacts of this trade have been severe for several endemic species, with many restricted range plants in the Northern and Western Cape provinces having been pushed closer to extinction due to contributing pressures from ongoing illegal (and unsustainable) harvesting,” it said.
Paul Gildenhuys, a CapeNature enforcement specialist in biodiversity conservation, previously told IOL that the illegal succulent trade grew rapidly following the global Covid-19 pandemic.