Uprooting illegal trade of succulent plants
THE Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) says it has a national response strategy and action plan to address the illegal trade in South African succulent flora.
This came to light following a parliamentary question by DA MP Dave Bryant who wanted to know how many people had been arrested for succulent plant poaching in the past five years. Also, who have been successfully convicted in light of, “ongoing poaching of indigenous succulent plants in the Republic, in particular the Conophytum and others, which puts the species in critical danger of extinction, and in light of the fact that most of the poached plants are allegedly smuggled to China”, he said.
According to the DFFE, it did not keep track of every plant-poaching case, but within its national environmental
crime database, officials provided support to investigators through the Environmental Enforcement Fusion Centre (EEFC).
In the Western Cape between 2019 and July 2022, 107 cases were lodged with 218 suspects arrested. In the Northern Cape between 2020 and
July 2022, 96 cases were lodged with 224 suspects arrested.
DFFE Minister Barbara Creecy said: “The DFFE, together with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) and the Worldwide Fund for Nature South Africa, has developed a multifaceted National Response Strategy and Action Plan to address the illegal trade in South African succulent flora.”
She said the response strategy was a collaborative effort by government departments, conservation authorities, non-governmental organisations, and local communities to ensure the survival of the country’s rich succulent flora.
“The strategy is currently being implemented. There is an oversight committee chaired by Sanbi and the DFFE, with a representative from each of the implementing agencies, which tracks the implementation of the response strategy.”