Albany Cycad

Encephalartos latifrons now occurs in areas where the predominant land uses are cultivation (pineapples and chicory) as well as stock farming. The impact of land use on E. latifrons is difficult to assess, but the early reports of Pearson (unpublished letters) and Chamberlain (1919) imply that at least some habitat was lost as a result of agricultural activity. Repeat photography, using photographs first taken between 1906 and 1945, indicated that all the plants occurring at seven different sites had disappeared by 1996 (Donaldson and Bösenberg 1999). However, this cannot be attributed directly to land use as, in most cases, the areas in which the plants occurred were neither ploughed nor cleared.

Trade in cycads is currently the greatest threat and probably explains the decline observed in the repeat photography study. The removal of relatively large numbers of plants by collectors has been recorded with some plants recovered by law enforcement and conservation agencies. The demand for wild collected plants remains high because E. latifrons is regarded as scarce and it is one of the most highly valued species in the cycad trade.

Population modelling of other species of Encephalartos (Raimondo and Donaldson 2003) showed that species such as E. latifrons are extremely sensitive to the removal of adult plants because population persistence over long periods relies on adult survival and not seedling recruitment. As a result, the species is very vulnerable to trade in mature plants.

It also seems likely that the natural pollinators are extinct. No natural seed set has been recorded in recent years and the current cohort of adult plants indicates that the last recruitment event was more than 50 years ago.

This species is listed in Appendix I of the CITES Appendices and is listed in the national Threatened or Protected Species regulations, which prohibit trade in wild plants. None of the plants occur naturally within any reserves but mature plants were replanted in one reserve after they were illegally removed from the wild. These plants are now established but no natural reproduction takes place due to the absence of insect pollinators.

A Population and Habitat Viability Assessment was developed in July 2006 and this was followed by the development of a species management plan in 2009. The plan has been implemented since 2010.

Ex situ conservation collections have also been established at several botanic gardens. One of the largest, is at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, which has 19 mature plants. Genetic studies showed that the Kirstenbosch collection has similar levels of genetic diversity to wild stocks and represents all wild genotype groups.