During the pandemic, while people were stuck at home, many developed new interests, from baking sourdough to collecting plants.
However, while the enthusiasm for all things botanical may seem benign, some collectors’ enthusiasm for rarer succulents means that some are selling online for hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars, such is the demand.
And this requirement has had serious consequences, according to the timeswhich reported that in an attempt to meet demand, criminals have violated international law, with alleged illegal harvesting and plant smuggling being blamed for the extinction of some species.
There are about 107 species in the genus conophytum, a family of small succulents. In the last five years, about eight species have been reported to have gone extinct and another 47 are now critically endangered.
The problem has become so serious that there are people dedicated to fighting plant poachers, like David Whitehead, who concentrates his efforts in South Africa.
He told the Times that people seek out unusual plants for their ornamental value, noting that “cacti, orchids, cycads and various carnivorous plants have been pushed much further toward extinction due to poaching.”
David described the situation in South Africa as a “crisis.”
Within the plant collecting community, which has a vibrant social media presence, people will show off their purchases, with the rarest and most unusual purchases giving the buyer bragging rights (and increasing demand and prices) and driving illegal smuggling of exotic species.
Certain types of monstera plants, particularly those with white spots on the leaves, sell for thousands of dollars.
In an effort to tackle illegal smuggling, the UK government has funded scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, who have no easy task as international criminal networks run the trade.
When it comes to how much people will pay for some plants, the amounts can be eye-watering.
Oklahoma-based ethically sourced plant artist and influencer Tyler Thrasher told the Ties that a special variety of monstera (more colloquially known as Swiss cheese plants) can sell for thousands, with those with white-spotted leaves being the most desirable. .
In South Africa, it is illegal to harvest plants of the conophytum species in the wild, but they are poached regularly.
A staggering 22,000 plants were intercepted at Cape Town International Airport, bound for China, in boxes labeled as children’s toys.
According to David Whitehead, conophytum are the subject of great interest because “they have character” and, because they are small, people can have a larger collection of them even if they don’t have much space.
The plants were sent to Kew, where they are carefully stored. According to scientists, they cannot simply be replanted in their native South Africa.
This is due to several reasons: they could be carriers of pathogens, which could introduce diseases. Or, since their exact provenance is not known, they could be replanted in the wrong place, which, according to David Whitehead, “would be harmful in itself.”
Some varieties of a particularly popular type of succulent, the Conophytum species (pictured is a Conophytum bilobum) are so poached that they are on the brink of extinction.
Additionally, because they grow so slowly, once pulled from the ground, it will take years for them to grow back and restore the ecosystem.
Due to demand for the plant, which used to be common locally, it is now “virtually extinct”, according to Paul Rees, director of Kew Tropical Nursery.
About 3,000 succulents are intercepted weekly by South African authorities
According to Paul Rees, so many are confiscated that it is “hard to know what to do with them”, and finding the labor to plant and save them is a problem, resulting in the loss of plants.
He points out that trends in plants come and go, and gives as an example the 19th century obsession with orchids, which led to poaching. While some still happen, it has slowed down and people are now focusing on succulents.
An alternative to poaching endangered plants is the artificial cultivation of them, something David Whitehead says should be encouraged if it means there is less demand for poaching.
One of the ways Kew scientists are trying to fight illegal trade is by using artificial intelligence to scan the internet for possible sales of endangered succulents. Called FloraGuard and created by the University of Southampton and the UK Border Force, it has some limitations.
For example, you can’t access private groups on Facebook, only public forums. However, it is useful for tracking trade trends, which species are most popular, how much money people are willing to pay, and where the plants come from.
Scientists at Kew Gardens (pictured is an orchid display held earlier this year at the site) are trying to fight the illegal plant trade.
Another way Kew is trying to tackle illegal trade is through a partnership with eBay – the organizations will work together to make it harder for sellers to sell illegally harvested plants.
David Whitehead also suggests that buyers become better familiar with signs that plants have been harvested from the wild.
For example, an artificially propagated plant would be expected to be pristine, while a wild plant is more likely to show signs of wear.
Ultimately, according to Paul Rees, the solution to the succulent crisis could simply be for them to go out of style and people stop coveting them so much.
He said: ‘I remember when I was a kid, rock gardens were all the rage and everyone had one. So they were the last thing anyone wanted.