Succulent plants of South Africa under threat from poachers in the Karru

A biodiversity hotspot in a remote part of South Africa has become a hub for illegal trade in protected plant species, with organized crime gangs taking advantage of foreign demand.

“They didn’t just steal our land or our plants, they also stole our heritage,” a rancher angrily tells the BBC, expressing concern about the social and environmental crisis caused by poaching.

Most of the plants in question are varieties known as succulents, named for their ability to hold water and survive in arid climates.

Many of the world’s succulent species are found only in the Succulent Karoo Desert, which spans South Africa and Namibia.

Succulent species vary in size, shape and color – some look like little colorful buttons and some look like cacti, producing colorful flowers at certain times of the year.

Although these varieties can be grown in nurseries, global demand is also driving the poaching of these plants from the wild, which are then smuggled and sold over the Internet to buyers in the US, Europe and East Asia.

In Kamiskrun, a small town in the center of South Africa’s Namaqualand region, the hills have become a haven for poachers.

Some of the species are very localized and can therefore be eradicated by small-scale poaching.

“In South Africa, we already know of seven species that have been completely wiped out, and there are certainly more species that will disappear very soon,” says Pieter van Wyk, curator of the nursery /Ai /Ais-Richtersveld Cross-Border Park.

It is difficult to get figures on how many plants were destroyed, but the public organization Traffic reports that 1.6 million illegally harvested succulents were confiscated by law enforcement agencies in South Africa between 2019 and 2024. This is only detected smuggling, so the real figure is likely much higher.

The South African government is well aware of the problem and in 2022 presented an anti-poaching strategy. This includes conducting public programs on the need to protect the environment.

According to Mr Van Wyk and other conservationists, poaching has flourished since the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.

While international traders could not travel to South Africa, they asked local people to collect succulents for them and ship them out of the country.

Mr Van Wyk says this has coincided with increased global demand.

“People had more time to try to find than to do, and plants were one of the few things in your home that could connect you to the outside world.”

This has been seized upon by organized crime syndicates who hire teams of poachers and then sell the wild plants on social media and e-commerce platforms.

“The syndicates saw this as an opportunity to do something viral … to say to the general public, ‘We have this super weird-looking thing that comes from the African continent,'” says Mr. Van Wyk.

“Then the public just loses their head and says, ‘I want to buy,’ and (syndicates) poach the species,” he adds.

A surge in organized crime in the region is having a negative impact on local communities.

“It’s a low-income area, people are not rich here, and people will take advantage of opportunities to make a profit,” explains Malinda Gardiner of Conservation South Africa.

Echoing a similar sentiment, a cattle rancher interviewed by the BBC says there is always an influx of money in her community when poaching takes place.

“When we see young people going up into the mountains, we know they are poachers,” adds the farmer, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals.

“They use screwdrivers to uproot the succulents, and they wear backpacks and sacks to keep the stolen plants.”

A few days later there is an outbreak of drunkenness and illegal activity.

“When they get money, there’s more drugs, more alcohol, children are neglected because mum’s drunk, dad’s drunk, there’s no food,” Ms Gardiner adds.

She worries that the tension will have long-term consequences.

“The small communities here really need each other… but it creates distrust. It also divides communities,” she says.

Mr. Van Wyk’s assessment is harsher: “People are being abused and enslaved by syndicates and buyers.”

Efforts are being made to raise consumer awareness of the importance of understanding where a plant may have come from.

China has become a major source of demand for wild succulents over the past few years, but an online campaign to educate people about the illegal succulent trade has had some results.

The Clean Internet for Canafitum campaign was launched by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Fund in March 2023.

According to the foundation’s deputy secretary-general, Linda Wong, they have seen an 80% drop in online ads for canaphitums – a type of succulent – from an unknown source, and buyers are starting to ask questions about where the plants sold online came from. .

“The key is awareness. Once people know, they want to take action. They want to take responsibility for consuming these plants and enjoying their beauty in a very responsible way,” she tells the BBC.

Conservationists advise customers worldwide to ask about the origin of plants and never buy those advertised as wild.

Traffic and the UK’s Kew Gardens recently announced a partnership with eBay develop new ways to prevent the sale of wild succulents on their platform.

Mr Van Wyk says more needs to be done in South Africa to promote the cultivation of succulents that can be grown and harvested legally to reduce demand for poaching.

“We as a country have to say, ‘We have this resource and there are other countries that are benefiting greatly from it, why not us?'” he told the BBC.

Mr Van Wyk now runs a nursery in the /Ai/Ais-Richtersveld transboundary park that looks after plants seized by law enforcement, and he says they have received more than 200,000 plants so far.

“Obviously it’s stressful to watch things disappear. But when you study these plants, it brings so much joy and satisfaction and you just forget about all the stupid things going on in the world,” says Mr Van Wyk.