Following the unprecedented onslaught on South African succulent plants, a new battle is being fought as beautiful and rare clivias are now being illegally harvested to extinction to supply markets abroad.
This is a change from the much-publicised onslaught on the region’s succulent, as illustrated in a 2023 ENACT report outlining the global illegal trade in South African succulent flora. The report also highlighted the National Response Strategy and Action Plan which was developed in response to the budding market, and, in consultation with stakeholders, made recommendations to strengthen its implementation.
In September, guided by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), stakeholders met to consider their progress in achieving their objectives, using ENACT’s recommendations as a benchmark. The meeting also served to align efforts with evolving trends in the trade.
Over a million succulent plants have been intercepted since 2019, primarily in the Northern and Western Cape, with illegal trade driving at least 11 species to functional extinction in the wild. Seizures have however declined significantly in 2024.
From January to September, about 20 000 plants were seized, few of which were previously targeted succulents – presumably because the market has been saturated with illegal plants. Another potential reason could be more employment opportunities presented by increased mining and wind farm developments, possibly reducing the number of active harvesters.
Another suggestion for the decline in seizures is, however, more perplexing. A Northern Cape police officer has been charged with offences stemming from possible conflicts of interest related to the trade. Since he and his team were almost singlehandedly driving the law enforcement response in the Northern Cape, the epicentre of illegal harvesting, one theory is that harvesting has not stopped, but instead is currently going undetected. CapeNature says this is evidenced by ongoing seizures of plants being transported through the Western Cape. Scientists have also confirmed arriving at sites to monitor plants, only to find the area harvested. This week’s Northern Cape seizure of conophytums, along with rhino horn, is, however, very encouraging and could provide valuable insight into the criminal networks dealing in multiple wildlife commodities.
According to SANBI, the policeman’s arrest and suspension has not only left the Northern Cape without a coordinated law enforcement response, but has also left locals without a focal point to report suspicious activity. Although more species now require monitoring, more landowners are denying researchers access to monitor plant populations, a persistent challenge due to landowners becoming increasingly suspicious of anyone seeking access to plants.
The prosecution of offenders apprehended by the police officer has also reportedly been halted while he’s under investigation. If correct, it is disappointing since prosecutions in the Northern Cape have only recently resumed after the successful appeal of erroneous judgments resulting from incorrect interpretations of provincial conservation legislation.
While these suggestions may explain the decline in succulent seizures, they don’t explain the increased targeting of geophytes, caudiciform plants, and especially Clivia mirabilis. Named the miracle clivia due to its unlikely natural habitat, the species occurs in only one locality in a protected area. It’s on SANBI’s red list of plants and is protected nationally and provincially. Like illegally harvested succulents, though, these clivias aren’t yet protected internationally.
The first clivias were seized alongside succulents in the Western Cape in October 2023. By December, a single seizure netted nearly 1 000 plants, with multiple seizures and arrests since. By August 2024, over 4 600 clivias had been seized.
 The illegal Clivia mirabilis trade could wipe out the species |
 Seized clivias. Photo supplied by Leon Muller, Cape Nature |
Like succulents, clivias are harvested for their ornamental appeal and fetch remarkable prices from collectors and breeders. Demand seems to be concentrated primarily in China, and the plants are supplied by a combination of local and foreign harvesters and intermediaries, often from neighbouring Southern African countries, and Asia. Intermediaries export the plants via various African countries, including Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania.
South Africa is however not facing the illegal plant trade alone. Across the border in Namibia, plants are disappearing and popping up on the same online retail sites as illegally harvested plants from South Africa, Madagascar, and other regional countries. According to law enforcement, Namibian plants are exported using fraudulent export permits since Namibia is not currently issuing permits for succulents. These plants are then sold or laundered through Asia and sold in countries like the United States.
Namibian plants also transit through neighbouring countries and are often exported abroad from Tanzania where numerous intermediaries likely collate shipments. Law enforcement officials indicated that Tanzanians play a significant role in the distribution and trade of Namibian species. They seem to specifically target wild plants from Southern and Eastern Africa, and even Somalia.
A Namibian delegation visited South Africa in August to facilitate law enforcement cooperation and learn from South Africa’s experience in implementing its response strategy.
Key efforts in South Africa have included building the capacity of government agencies involved in identifying, countering and prosecuting the illegal trade. Sniffer dogs have been trained to identify plant material, and network analysis is underway to identify more senior individuals involved in the illegal supply chain, including exports, imports, financing operations, etc.
A key priority has been inter-provincial and cross-border law enforcement cooperation. A recent joint operation has aimed to foster closer collaboration between national departments and the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape provinces. It’s suspected that plants in the Eastern Cape are harvested on a larger scale than previously believed.
In addition to different entities monitoring the online trade, where many plants are sold, TRAFFIC and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew are working with eBay to prevent, identify and report illegal plant sales on its site. Similar work is planned with other online platforms, including in Asia. TRAFFIC also trains law enforcement to investigate online trade.
Evidence handling has been streamlined to allow plants to be cared for pending prosecutions, and, as with succulents, efforts are underway to care for seized clivias and protect them in their habitat. Like succulents, these clivias can’t be returned to their natural habitat until illegal trade subsides and until there are successful restoration protocols. But unlike seized succulents, clivias are difficult to keep alive.
Nursery supplies and greenhouses to house seized specimens have been sponsored by non-governmental organisations and the Richtersveld Transfrontier Park has opened a succulent nursery and display garden as part of the newly established Richtersveld Desert Botanical Garden.
In January 2024, ENACT and SANBI convened a stakeholder workshop to explore the possibilities of expanding and simplifying the legal plant trade to counter the illegal market. SANBI subsequently submitted a proposal to include ornamental succulent plants in South Africa’s National Biodiversity Economy Strategy. Other options include selling seized plants to fund the response and working with nurseries to scale their international exports. Legal trade is also being considered as a way to counter the illicit clivia market.
 Nursery owners and government departments met to discuss the possibilities within the legal succulent market |
Resources to implement the response however remain extremely limited, with too few experts, staff and tools to prevent and address the problem. Hundreds of thousands of seized plants die due to a lack of infrastructure, and local people who have been upskilled to assist with the response can’t be retained due to funding shortages.
A new draft Biodiversity Bill provides for emergency measures to protect species. However legal processes desperately needed to protect plants, such as protected area declarations and protected species listings in national and international legislation, are too slow to keep up with the illegal market. The Northern Cape’s capacity to address the onslaught is still severely limited, causing the Western Cape to shoulder the burden of the response. There should also be much more intentional engagement with the countries where Southern Africa’s plants are sold, even if they aren’t yet internationally protected.
Since other Southern African countries’ endemic plants are also targeted, these lessons should serve as a warning for them to invest in preventive measures before it’s too late.
Dr Carina Bruwer, Senior Researcher, ENACT
Image: Artificially propagated clivias for illustration purposes.
Source: https://babylonstoren.com/blog/post/clivias-at-babylonstoren
