South Africa’s succulent plants under threat from poachers in the Karoo

A remote area of ​​South Africa that is rich in biodiversity has become a hotbed for the illegal trade of protected plants, with terrorist groups targeting foreign interests.

“They have not only stolen our land or our plants, but they have also stolen our heritage,” a livestock farmer told the BBC angrily, expressing frustration at the environmental and environmental problems it has caused.

Most of the plants in question are a variety of plants called succulents, which are said to be able to retain water and survive in dry environments.

Most of the world’s water species are found in the Succulent Karoo desert, which runs through South Africa and Namibia.

The succulents vary in size, shape and color – some look like small multi-colored buttons and others look like cacti, blooming with beautiful flowers at certain times of the year.

Although these varieties can be grown in nurseries, global demand is also driving the killing of these seeds from the wild which are smuggled and sold online to consumers in the US, Europe and East Asia.

In Kamieskroon, a small town in the heart of South Africa’s Namaqualand region, the small mountains have become a haven for poachers.

Some of the species are endemic, so they can be eradicated with very little hunting.

“In South Africa, we already know of seven extinct species and there are many species that will soon become extinct,” says Pieter van Wyk, nursery manager at the nursery. /Ai /Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park.

It is difficult to get statistics on the number of plants being stolen, but the non-governmental organization Traffic reported that 1.6 million illegal harvests were seized and law enforcement agencies in South Africa between 2019 and 2024. This only represents the violations found, so the real number is likely to be much higher.

The South African government is well aware of the problem, and unveiled a plan in 2022 to combat poaching. It involves running community programs about the need to protect the environment.

According to Van Wyk and other conservationists, crop killing has been increasing since the Covid-19 shutdown in 2020.

Since traders from different countries could not go to South Africa at that time, they turned to the people of the area to get them certain sweet medicines and put them outside the country.

Mr Van Wyk said this is in line with the rise in national demand.

“People had a lot of time trying to find something to occupy themselves with, and plants were one of the things that in your house, could connect you to the outside world.”

This has been captured by gangs who hire gangs of poachers and sell wild plants on social media and e-commerce platforms.

“The agencies saw this as an opportunity to create something that was viral… to tell the masses: ‘We have a really amazing look that comes out of Africa,'” says Mr Van Wyk.

“Then people just drop their heads and say: ‘I want to buy’, and [the syndicates] arrange for the animals to be killed,” he added.

The number of terrorist attacks in the area is disturbing the local community.

Malinda Gardiner of Conservation South Africa said: “This is where people get the least amount of money.

In giving such opinion, a livestock farmer who spoke to the BBC said that there is always a lot of money in his area when hunting animals.

“When we see boys climbing the mountains, we know they are poachers,” added the farmer, who has asked not to be identified for fear of being killed.

“They use screwdrivers to pull out succulents and carry bags and bags to store the stolen plants.”

After a few days, people began to drink alcohol and engage in illegal activities.

“When they get money, there’s drugs, a lot of alcohol, children are neglected because mothers are drunk, fathers are drunk, there’s no food,” adds Ms Gardiner.

He worries that the conflicts will have long-term consequences.

“The small communities here really need each other … but this leads to mistrust. It also leads to regional divisions,” he said.

Mr Van Wyk’s assessment is clear: “People are being tortured and enslaved by gangs and consumers.”

Efforts are being made to educate consumers about the importance of understanding where the plant may have come from.

China has become an important source of wild spices in the past few years, but an online campaign there to educate people about the illegal trade of the species has seen results.

The Clean Internet Campaign for Conophytum was launched in March 2023 by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation.

According to the foundation’s deputy secretary general Linda Wong, they have seen an 80% reduction in online advertisements for conophytum – a sweet variety – without an unknown source, and consumers have started asking questions about where the plants sold online came from. .

“The key is awareness. When people know, they want to do something. They want to take responsibility for destroying the plants and enjoy their beauty in a more intelligent way,” he tells the BBC.

Environmentalists advise customers all over the world to ask about the origin of the plant, and not to buy what is advertised.

Cars and the UK’s Kew Gardens recently announced a partnership with eBay creating new ways to avoid selling wild spices on its platform.

In South Africa, Mr. Van Wyk says there is more to be done to promote the cultivation of succulents that can be grown and harvested legally, in order to reduce the number of people who kill animals.

“We as a country have to say: ‘We have this support, and there are other countries that are benefiting from it, why aren’t we doing it?'” he told the BBC.

Mr Van Wyk now runs a nursery in the /Ai/Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park which looks after plants confiscated by the police, and says he has received more than 200,000 so far.

“Obviously it’s sad to see things disappearing. But if you study these plants, they bring so much joy and happiness and you just forget about all the nonsense that’s going on in the world,” says Van Wyk.