Development of a compendium of local, wild-harvested species used in the informal economy trade, Cape Town, South Africa

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorPetersen, L. M.
dc.contributor.authorMoll, E. J.
dc.contributor.authorCollins, R.
dc.date.accessioned2023-06-06T09:39:04Z
dc.date.available2023-06-06T09:39:04Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.description.abstractWild harvesting has taken place over millennia in Africa. However urbanization and cash economies have effectively altered harvesting from being cultural, traditional, and subsistence activities that are part of a rural norm, to being a subculture of commonly illicit activities located primarily within the urban, cash-based, informal economy. This paper focuses on Cape Town, South Africa where high levels of poverty and extensive population growth have led to a rapidly growing informal industry based on the cultural, subsistence, and entrepreneurial harvesting and consumption of products obtained from the local natural environment. Through a process of literature reviews, database analysis, and key informant interviews, a compendium of harvested species was developed, illustrating the breadth of illicit harvesting of products from nature reserves, public open space, and other commonage within the City. The compendium records 448 locally occurring species (198 animals and 250 plants) that are extracted for medicinal, energy, ornamental, sustenance, nursery, and other uses. The sustainability of harvesting is questionable; nearly 70% of all harvested flora and 100% of all collected fauna are either killed or reproductively harmed through the harvesting processes. Furthermore, for the 183 indigenous flora species currently recorded on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, 28% (51) hold assessments ranging from Declining through to Critically Endangered. With respect to the more poorly assessed fauna (46 spp.), approximately 24% (11) have Declining or Threatened status.en_US
dc.identifier.citationPetersen, L. M. et al. (2012). Development of a compendium of local, wild-harvested species used in the informal economy trade, Cape Town, South Africa. Ecology and Society, 17(2), 26. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-04537-170226en_US
dc.identifier.issn1708-3087
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-04537-170226
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10566/9033
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherResilience Allianceen_US
dc.subjectEcologyen_US
dc.subjectBiodiversityen_US
dc.subjectConservationen_US
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_US
dc.subjectEconomyen_US
dc.titleDevelopment of a compendium of local, wild-harvested species used in the informal economy trade, Cape Town, South Africaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
petersen_development of a compendium of local_2012.pdf
Size:
1.26 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Research Articles (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology)