A. Species
Scientific name: Hoodia gordonii
Common name(s): Ghaap, Bitter, Ghap, Xhoba, Hoodia, Igoa-I
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status:
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- South Africa
Country/Region:
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: National Level
Name/Details of location: South Africa
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2005
End Year: 2005
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Type of use: Extractive
Practice of use: Gathering/Cutting/Collecting terrestrial plants and fungi or their products from the wild
Lethal or non-lethal: Non-Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: Only parts or products of the organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Medicine and hygiene
Motivation of use: Income generation from trade (individual/household/community)
Is this use legal or illegal?: Some use is legal and some is illegal
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people and National / local private sector
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: No, sustainability not determined
Details of assessment carried out: This NDF Workshop Case Study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The global population trend is unknown, but local decline has been observed at sites where exploitation and die-back have occurred. Recruitment events have also been observed, but these were not necessarily at the sites where decline has occurred (possibly random recruitment) Note: Long term population trends are unknown, but drastic population declines have been observed in nature, mostly due to die-back of established plants. The reasons for these drastic die-back events are unknown, but they appear to coincide with prolonged high rainfall events when Fusarium (a fungus) and other pests attack the species.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: One of the major concerns is that economic benefits are not being shared with the countries of origin and Knowledge Keepers. The purpose of the management plan in place is to enable economic benefits to accrue to the province, to obtain minimum baseline information to ensure that landowners harvest on their own property. While illegal use threatens natural populations (unquantified), cultivation and use within management plans is designed to be sustainable.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: No, sustainability not determined
Details of assessment carried out: This NDF Workshop Case Study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Implicitly, this exploitation is a traditional practice, and commercial exploitation has become highly profitable. Illegal use of wild hoodia is not sustainable, however, the managed cultivation of hoodia is intended to be sustainable. In the review process the information available on the species and the Access and Benefit Sharing aspect (the indigenous San people have been acknowledged as the Indigenous Knowledge Keepers) was taken into consideration.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: No, sustainability not determined
Details of assessment carried out: This NDF Workshop Case Study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: It is used medicinally, without ill-effect. Traditionally hoodia was used by the San while hunting to suppress appetite, thirst and to maintain their energy levels. They ate portions of the fresh stems of about 180-250g per day. The commercial uses are similar, with dieting and energy boosting (cyclists) being the major consumer markets (300-400mg per day, three times per day). Interestingly, the Patent actually includes anti-diabetic and prevention of aspirin induced gastric damage characteristics.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
Southern Africa should implement the same rules and methods in addressing wild crafted trade. Liaison with regard to transport and export permits is needed. Capacity on provincial level is limited, varies in expertise and personnel turnover is of concern. It is uncertain as to how one can address these aspects, but a checklist (ticking off yes or no blocks) might be an option for evaluation (with reference to permit evaluations). However, for this more information is needed on the biology and regeneration of the species. Field experience and personal knowledge play a role in the permit evaluation processes currently, meaning that it is dependent on the person doing the evaluation (subjective to an extent). A consultant or student should be sponsored / given a bursary to obtain the relevant biological information needed to enable the development of improved quota systems that inexperienced scientists can use to evaluate applications. Provincial departments should be capacitated (more scientists) or provided with financial support to appoint consultants for surveys, or national departments should assist provincial departments where capacity constraints are being experienced. Preferably the departments should do the resource assessments because it was found that the clients struggle too much with it. The time it takes to train them and assist them in getting it right, means that it is not really less time consuming as anticipated. Then you also need to either computerise their data, because they do not have computers, or you must try to unravel what applicants tried to say in their documents. Importing countries should monitor Hoodia that is being imported, which should then be cross referenced with the countries of export. Any discrepancies in the data should be investigated.
Record source
Information about the record source: grey_lit
Date of publication/issue/production: 2008-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
By Elsabe Swart.
NDF Workshop Case Studies
WG 3 – Succulents and Cycads
Case Study 6
Hoodia gordonii
Country – South Africa
Date of record entry: 2023-09-25