Illegal harvesting and smuggling are stripping one of South Africa’s biodiversity hotspots of its unique wild succulent plants, pushing the rare species closer to extinction.
An analysis by the Institute of Security Studies’ ENACT initiative indicates that demand from horticultural markets in Asia, Europe and the United States is driving the illegal trade. Cultivated succulents, not wild ones, be legally traded internationally.
Though illegal harvesting of wild succulents is not new, especially by foreigners from Asia and Europe, it surged since the COVID-19 pandemic as locals sought to overcome limited income opportunities.
The almost-weekly arrests of suspected illegal harvesters and seizures of thousands of plants appear to demonstrate the scale of the threat.
“What is the impact of having gaping holes in the ground where little wonders used to be? Apart from the immediate loss of endemic species and biodiversity, and the habitat destruction caused at harvesting sites, the truth is that we don’t know. Each individual succulent species’ role in the ecosystem has not yet been studied,” wrote Dr. Carina Bruwer, Senior Researcher, Southern Africa, ENACT.
“When harvesters destroy the soil, they contribute to erosion. They also break rocks where some of the succulent species grow. These rocks are home to other species of plants, insects and reptiles,” she added.
The plants are Indigenous only to South Africa’s Succulent Karoo, one of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots. They are widely sought for their beauty and rarity, with some plant collectors prefer bigger and older succulents that take years to grow.
In response to the uptick in the illegal trade in succulents, the government and partners launched a Strategy and Action Plan in February 2022 to advance efforts to address the challenge.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species classifies many of the illegally-harvested and traded succulents as only one or two steps away from extinction in the wild.
