Stangeria eriopus

This species has been affected by over collecting (for medicinal and ornamental use). Habitat destruction has also had an effect on the plants in the wild (pineapple and sugar cane farming). Vast numbers of plants were eradicated along the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape coast as sugar cane fields and the pineapple industry respectively replaced the natural vegetation. Between Durban and Hluhluwe, Stangeria eriopus was lost at many localities due to habitat transformation for sugar cane and gum plantations. Very little natural vegetation exists in these areas today, and S. eriopus tends to be found in isolated pockets.

The possible future construction of the highway through the Eastern Cape will threaten many of the subpopulations. Parts of the former Transkei are currently a refuge for S. eriopus, but coastal urban development threatens the habitat and the range as forest refugia become more accessible to collectors.

At least 20% of the habitat has been lost over the last three generations (90 years) (generation length is about 30 years) and harvesting for the traditional medicine trade has caused at least a further 10-20% decline in population size. The habitat is further threatened with future transformation and increased harvesting as a result of the N2 highway being extended through the Eastern Cape.

S. eriopus is a sought after medicinal plant which has been severely over-exploited over much of its distribution range. The habitat is rapidly being degraded because of woodcutting and the expansion of crop farming. The lignotuber is used for traditional medicine, hence harvesting is destructive and whole plants are usually killed. Estimates of an annual sale of 233 bags (50 kg-size) by 54 traders in the Durban markets have been made - possibly accounting for ¼ of the total sales in the province. In a survey conducted in July 1992, 28 out of 170 gatherers (16.5%) in two Durban muti markets sold the tubers. The mean mass of caudices on sale = 0.7 kg; mean mass sold/month/trader = 85 kg; mean number of plants sold/month/trader = 122; total mass sold/month = 2,380 kg; total number of plants sold/month = 3,410 individual caudices (or, 40,920 plants per year). The unknown quantity of tubers sold by the muti shops in the city would have added considerably to the annual volume sold in the region. The plants were said to have been harvested from areas in the Transkei, southern and northern KwaZulu-Natal, and concerns were raised that the rate of exploitation would lead to a rapid demise of S. eriopus in the wild, especially if the herbal medicine trade continued to expand (as it has).

The popularity of S. eriopus is such that it is traded outside of its range in Mpumalanga and Gauteng. Trade figures for Johannesburg showed that 58% of muti shops stocked the species in 1994, 18% of which said it was scarce. The annual volume estimated to have been sold was 243 bags (50 kg-size). In the Faraday market in 2001, 9% of traders sold it with a combined volume of 38 bags.

More recently, evidence has been found of S. eriopus tubers having been excavated in the Manguzi, presumably for the traditional medicine trade. Possibly more than 50 plants had been removed from the site, and that conservatively hundreds had been excavated in the last few months. On a recent visit to the Faraday market, 20 traders with S. eriopus, each with about 20 plants per trader, were found.

In terms of habitat destruction, vast numbers of plants have been eradicated along the KwaZulu-Natal coast as sugar cane fields replaced the natural vegetation, and the expansion of the pineapple industry in the Eastern Cape had caused similar diminution in the distribution of S. eriopus in that area.

Cycad collectors have also threatened the Stangeria population. A post-war anecdote has been cited in which a field botanist active along the Natal south coast was offered one pound per plant to send as many living Stangeria plants as could be collected to a Chicago museum. The botanist refused, and the field full of Stangeria that was mentioned in the anecdote was subsequently visited 30 years later to find that it had been overgrazed and not a single plant remained.

This species is listed in Appendix I of CITES. This species occurs in at least five protected areas, including the Ubombo (Lebombo) Mountain Nature Reserve and the Dwesa and Cwebe Nature Reserves. There is a need for an education and awareness programme to support the conservation of this species as it is a sought after medicinal plant throughout most of its distribution range. Setting aside further areas to conserve this species as well as a harvest monitoring programme is needed to ensure its protection and conservation.