National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004)

Notices

Non-Detriment find Assessment for Aloe ferox (Bitter Aloe)

Table 1: Detailed NDF assessment for Aloe ferox undertaken in accordance with the CITES NDF checklist.

Monitoring of harvest

19. Methods used to monitor the harvest
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What is the principal method used to monitor the effects of the harvest?

Direct population estimates

1

Quantitative indices

2

Qualitative indices

3

National monitoring of exports

4

No monitoring or uncertain

5

 

Exports of Aloe ferox from South Africa (extracted from the CITES Trade Database, UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK) are monitored by South Africa's CITES Scientific Authority. The bulk of harvested A, ferox is destined for the export market, with limited secondary or tertiary processing taking place in the country (Newton and Vaughan, 1996; Sachedina and Bodeker, 1999; Melin, 2009). South Africa remains the chief exporter of A. ferox raw materials and certain consumer goods. The species is exported in many different forms with extracts accounting for the bulk volume of trade (85%) followed by powder (7%), derivatives (6%) and leaves (2%). Live plants, stems and dried fragments make up a negligible portion of the trade. The variety of A. ferox products on the market makes it challenging to estimate the quantities of plants being harvested for trade. Nevertheless, the market for primary extract has been relatively stable since the year 2000 and the gradual increase in exports of derivatives is due largely to developments of the in-country processing of available secondary leaf material. Argentina and Germany have imported the greatest volumes of extract from South Africa since 1981. Germany has also been the major importer of A. ferox derivatives since consumer-ready products first appeared on the market in the early 2000s. Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan are all large importers of A. ferox extract, whilst the United States of America, Sweden and Switzerland are regular importers of derivatives. More than 70% all South Africa's exports of A. ferox derivatives and, more than 50% of A. ferox extracts, have been imported by EU Member States.

 

There is currently no field monitoring programme for the species and the direct effects of harvest on wild populations need to be elucidated. The local use of, and trade in, A. ferox plants and products within SouthAfrica also remains under-evaluated.

 

The A. ferox trade data from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) dating back to 2007 indicate that there are no exports of A. ferox (or A. candelabrum) from the province, except in 2012 and 2013 when A. ferox was sourced from cultivation.