By Alana Bailey

Recently news reports have drawn attention once again to the growing smuggling of indigenous plants.

An astonishing 20 000 plant species are found in South Africa. This represents about 10% of all plants on earth. Syndicates that poach and smuggle plants now literally take red data lists of plant species found in the country, search for them and poach them to sell them abroad to collectors.

When the criminals are caught with plants in their possession, the plants are handed over by the authorities to the South African National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) to try to save them. Sanbi staff say that they are overwhelmed by the thousands of confiscated succulents that they receive and have to try and house in their greenhouses. Unfortunately, not all plants can be saved. Some come from regions with unique climatic conditions that are difficult to replicate elsewhere, or have been removed from the soil so harshly that they have been irreparably damaged. Sanbi tries its best to save what it can.

The prosecution of plant smugglers is also increasing, with 96 people arrested and 36 cases heard in local courts in 2022. According to a report of Netwerk24, three citizens of the United Arab Emirates were each fined R1 million in November 2022 in connection with plant smuggling. Sentences are severe, but do not deter the offenders.

Buyers of rare plants must be extremely careful not to support this criminal industry. One should always make an effort to determine where the plants originated from, before buying and inadvertently becoming guilty of a crime.

Hopefully, the smuggling will not result in our descendants only reading about these precious plants in books one day.