Natural History Wanderings

Geographical Magazine reports

In South Africa, a new wave of poaching has taken off, but this time it isn’t big cats, elephants or rhinos that are in the firing line, but tiny succulent plants

In recent years, ornamental succulents have become fashionable around the world and the burgeoning demand from plant collectors has fuelled what botanists refer to as a global poaching epidemic. In South Africa, one of the world’s most biodiverse nations and home to roughly a third of all succulent species, authorities are playing catch up as plant poachers pillage the country’s unique botanical heritage, driving rare species of succulent towards extinction.

Read article South Africa’s new plant poaching epidemic – Geographical Magazine