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

Aloe ferox is believed to be 5 an extremely common and abundant species, occurring as large stands in suitable habitat. Due to its weed-like nature and being a pioneer species in disturbed vegetation, its population has been observed to thrive in areas with land degradation. It is therefore speculated that the population size has increased over the past 30 years (Raimondo et al., 2012). Aloe harvesters, industry stakeholders and management authorities in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape however, have differing views regarding the national population trend of the species.

In the Eastern Cape, members of the A. ferox industry believe that the population of A. ferox is increasing while other stakeholders (e.g. conservation officials and community harvesters) argue that the population is in fact decreasing. Some subpopulations have been extirpated in certain communal areas of the Eastern Cape. Aloe harvesters (commonly referred to as tappers, i.e. those who 'tap' the plants) have observed a substantial decrease of the A. ferox population in the shared lands surrounding King Williams Town in particular, whilst members of the A. ferox industry report that stable populations still occur in some formally protected areas (around Grahamstown). Tappers in the communal areas report having to walk long

distances (about two hours) to harvest aloes in dense thickets where their safety and security is compromised. Due to the extirpation of accessible populations, tappers have expressed a desire to cultivate A. ferox but lack resources such as nursery infrastructure and land for cultivation. The declines observed in these populations around communal areas have been credited to the activities of untrained harvesters with inadequate knowledge of tapping. An increase in human population densities, coupled with an increase in the rate of unemployment, is likely the main underlying factor behind the influx of opportunistic harvesters and the subsequent pressure on A. ferox populations that occur on communal land.

In the Western Cape, both tappers and landowners are of the view that A. ferox populations are increasing. They have observed a high number of recruits in areas where they harvest and believe that harvested populations have improved growth rates compared to unharvested populations. Harvesting reportedly has no impact on flowering, with observations indicating that the harvested plants flower at the same time and to the same extent as plants that are not harvested. This anecdotal information however contradicts the findings of the 2014 resource assessment, which found that none of the A. ferox plants at harvested sites in the Eastern Cape were flowering at the time of the assessment during the flowering season (DEA 2014). Greengrass (2004) also found that harvesting had an effect on the morphology, reproduction and sap production of A. ferox plants. As harvesting significantly reduces the number of leaves per plant, it is anticipated that it would further lower the reproductive potential of harvested plants.