WESTERN CAPE NEWS - CapeNature, the conservation authority responsible for biodiversity in the Western Cape, celebrated Plant Appreciation Day with a victory in its mandate to protect the special and unique plant life of the Western Cape.
The special calendar day falls on 13 April every year and is aimed at highlighting the importance of plants in our daily lives.
CapeNature ensures the protection of indigenous plants in the Western Cape through its anti-poaching surveillance and enforcement efforts and has recently enjoyed success following an American citizen and his tour guide being caught and arrested by CapeNature officials last year with 354 plants in their possession.
At the time of the arrest, 337 of these plant species were protected and 17 unprotected. Following a confiscation order overseen by the Asset Forfeiture Unit, the court ordered the man, Kalman Kaminar to pay R500 000 to the State, of which R250 000 is to be paid into the Criminal Assets Recovery Account and R250 000 to be paid to CapeNature.
Kaminar was also declared an undesirable person and banned from entering South Africa again. Although CapeNature has a need to protect its plants from illegal harvesting, it also recognises the importance of plants to its communities and people, specifically their traditional, medicinal and economic significance.
The entity's groundbreaking policy that allows for regulated consumptive use of species of wild flora in CapeNature-managed protected areas was introduced last year.
This policy allows Natural Resource User Groups (NRUGs) the opportunity to harvest wild plants for traditional, cultural, medicinal and consumptive purposes subject to certain restrictions, regulations and authorisations.
CapeNature recognises that many local communities and individuals rely on the surrounding indigenous wild flora for traditional, cultural and medicinal purposes, thus forming the basis of the CapeNature Consumptive Use of Wild Flora Policy.
CapeNature also supports various other sustainable harvesting initiatives such as the harvesting of sour figs in Walker Bay Nature Reserve and wood harvesting of alien vegetation in De Hoop Nature Reserve.
