Poaching of encephalartos transvenosus, in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

Poaching is the illegal act of removing plants or hunting animal species in situ and ex situ. Poaching can lead to a population decline and in severe cases, local or global extinction. Cycad species in the Limpopo Province, South Africa, are poached for traditional medicine, ornamental and wildlife trade purposes. The study was conducted in nature reserves in the Limpopo Province which are: Mphaphuli Nature Reserve which is in the Vhembe district and is 1 300 ha in area, Modjadji Nature Reserve which is 350 ha and located in Bolobedu district north of Duiwelskloof and Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve which is situated between Tzaneen and Hoedspruit and is 18 718 ha in area. The main aim of the study was to evaluate poaching activities affecting E. transvenosus inside nature reserves in the Limpopo Province. The specific objectives included investigating which parts of the plants are poached, evaluating the challenges faced by nature reserves for conserving this species, and mapping the distribution of the poached cycads. For these specific objectives, field observation and open-ended questionnaire were used to collect the data. Field observations and questionnaires were conducted to investigate which part of the cycad is poached, Open-ended questions were used to evaluate the challenges that lead to poaching, and field observation was again used to map the localities of poached cycads in the reserve using a GPS. In total, 26 cycads were found to be poached from three reserves. This included eight cycad plants that were completely removed from outside Modjadji Nature Reserve, three completely removed from Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve as well as one completely removed and fourteen debarked in Mphaphuli Nature Reserve. The purported causes of the poaching were found to be unemployment, trade, inadequate reserve fencing and the demand for traditional medicine by rural local communities. It was concluded that with ongoing poaching activities in these reserves, conservation strategies need to be upgraded and their implementation intensified in order to protect E. transevenosus from population loss.