CRC staff pot poached plants
When you experience a crisis first hand, it sticks with you. On Wednesday the 8th of March, staff from the Cape Research Centre potted up many confiscated plants that were illegally collected from the dry interior of South Africa. Due to limited space and resources, many such uprooted plants have been waiting for a year for the chance to have their roots in soil again, and the SANParks team were happy to assist.
On arrival at the venue, we were welcomed by our host, who set the scene by telling us the current poaching crisis is impacting very negatively on some of South Africa’s unique plant species. Across the country, there are about several thousand confiscated plants that have been poached from the arid regions of the country including Richtersveld, the Karoo and Namaqualand.
Arrival at the venue. Back, Left to Right: Deborah Winterton, Yonela Mahamba, Dian Spear, Trevor Adams, Nicola van Wilgen, Zishan Ebrahim. Middle, Left Elmonique Petersen. Front, Left to Right: Meagan Eddy, Marna Herbst, Ruth-Mary Fisher, Daniëlle Seymour (Image credit: Anonymous to protect location).
Space is at a premium, and there is a shortage of pots, soil and hands, making it necessary to conduct triage to decide which plants get to be potted first: the most endangered and rare species are the priority. Alarmingly, the succulent poaching that has been taking place in the last two years has resulted in some common species that were classified as least concern becoming critically endangered.
Most of the confiscated plants come from hot, dry environments. However, because space is a huge problem, some of the confiscated plants are currently being kept under unsuitable conditions, and we saw plants out in the open that were estimated to be hundreds of years old.
Many confiscated succulent plant species inhabit hot dry environments, and they won’t survive if they get too wet (Image credit: Nick Helme).
One of our hosts explained how there is a shortage of ‘red soil’ from the van Rhynsdorp area in the Northern Cape, which is sorely needed to plant succulents in and that only the most endangered plants get planted in this soil, with other plants being planted in a mix of sand and loamy soil which is obtained locally. Our host also showed us how artificial pollination of the flowers of the confiscated plants is conducted using an old protea head to play bee. Debbi commented on how cute the tiny flowering plants were and how defenseless they are, as they can’t run away. When properly cared-for, these plants can be artifically propagated and multiplied for future restoration efforts. Such initiatives will become increasingly important in the coming years with projected changes in climate set to further impact species in the wild. The team were able to assist with potting many plants hoping for their survival and promise for the future.
One of the groups of confiscated plants that we saw comprised a quarter of the individuals known to exist in the country for that particular species. Fortunately, the species also occurs over the border in Namibia too, if it’s still there.
Ready to pot some confiscated plants. Left to Right, Deborah Winterton, Dian Spear and Marna Herbst (Image credit Nicola van Wilgen).
As we potted the gnarled and ancient looking plants and discussed the dire state of affairs, Nicola tried to shine a ray of light, suggesting that it could be an opportunity to try keep these plants alive until the climate stabilises. With climate change being another threat to the survival of these plants, we may need to keep some of plants in nurseries, under suitable conditions, and replant them in the wild in the future. Some food for thought.
In addition to a shortage of space, there is a shortage of pots to plant confiscated plants in. When we’d run out of pots to pot in, we’d filled about 60 pots and 22 trays, packing in as many plants as we could.
Hopefully some of the plants will survive!
Go team! Happy with our achievements. Left to Right, Nicola van Wilgen, Zishan Ebrahim, Dian Spear, Yonela Mahamba, Ruth-Mary Fisher, Danielle Seymour, Marna Herbst, Deborah Winterton, Trevor Adams, Elmonique Petersen, Meagan Eddy (Image credit: Nicola van Wilgen).
Note: When I first wrote this blog it was much more interesting with more specific information on particular plants, locations and plant poaching, but then we realised that this information is sensitive and can’t be shared with the public, so now you have a censored version of events.
