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Cycad crackdown only in E Cape
26/03/2004 20:00 - (SA)
Cape Town - Cape Nature Conservation authorities tried on Friday to allay the fears of cycad owners, who are panicking about not having permits for the plants.
Owners have inundated the organisation with calls after media broadcasts that those without permits for the plants by the end of the month face prosecution.
Deon Hignett, Cape Nature Conservation senior law administrator, said: "Such a campaign was launched and the message contained therein is, in fact, true.
"But, and this is the important part that has been overlooked or misunderstood: this campaign applies only to the Eastern Cape Province."
The Eastern Cape department of economic affairs, environment and tourism has taken the approach that all cycads in that province must be put on permit before March 31 or the plants will be regarded as being illegally possessed, read a statement.
It was emphasised that the campaign was active solely in the Eastern Cape. Western Cape nature conservation has not launched an initiative like this.
No deadline for application
All cycads were classified as "endangered flora" in the Western Cape, and if someone had a cycad - irrespective of its origin, species, age and size - on their property, a permit was needed for it.
If the plant was bought from a registered grower/seller of cycads, the invoice would suffice.
There was no deadline for application, although Cape Nature Conservation (CNC) urged all owners of cycads without permits to contact them.
Cycads are a small group of plants with many unique features, are of ancient origin, and have a long, long history.
Cycads have been on earth since the Permian era, more than 200 million years ago with fossil evidence found that could dates them to the late Carboniferous period, about 300-325 million years ago - long before the dinosaurs.
Although once abundant across the globe, cycads are now greatly reduced in both numbers and distribution and this scarcity, combined with their being something of a "status" plant, makes them valuable and sought after.
The result of this demand is that wild cycad populations are disappearing at an alarming rate, and they are one of the world's most-threatened plant groups.
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