A. Species
Scientific name: Carnegiea gigantea
Common name(s): sahuaro
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Least Concern
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Sonora
Country/Region:
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State
Name/Details of location: Sonoran Dessert
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2008
End Year: 2008
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: Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed, Energy, Keeping/companionship/display, Decorative and aesthetic and Materials and construction
Motivation of use: Basic subsistence, Income generation from trade (individual/household/community) and Largescale commercial exploitation for trade
Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people, Non-local Internal, National / local private sector and International 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?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: CITES Non detriment findings, but relying on author opinion as not formally assessed following NDF procedures
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Sites are becoming scarce, and most populations, especially in northern and northwestern Sonora (and many populations outside protected areas within the USA) have been heavily harvested. Being a long-lived plant, its cultivation for harvesting purposes is not feasible. The minimum return time for harvested plants is about 60-80 years.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: CITES Non detriment findings, but relying on author opinion as not formally assessed following NDF procedures
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: There is no quota system, but Mexican government authorities have established a moratorium on issuing permits until the sustainable use of ribs is clarified. In previous years, large quotas were authorized. The allotments differed in the units used: ribs, cubic meters, weight, etc. Harvesting a hectare of never harvested sahuaro can yield between $50-$150 US$ at present trade value. However, these sites are becoming scarce, and most populations, especially in northern and northwestern Sonora (and many populations outside protected areas within the USA) have been heavily harvested. Being a long-lived plant, its cultivation for harvesting purposes is not feasible. The minimum return time for harvested plants is about 60-80 years.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded
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
a) Given the sparse distribution of populations, the discontinuous recruitment, the slow growth rate, the minimum size of harvestable individuals, and the important, but not yet scientifically studied, role of dead sahuaro skeletons, it is recommended not to grant export permits of dead sahuaro ribs. Other forms of export that are non-detrimental and can be granted include the export of glasshouse grown individuals from wild produced seeds, or the export of wild fruits and their derivatives. In both cases, the effect of such wild recollection has no apparent detrimental effect on populations, particularly when considering that: i) Only an exceedingly small proportion of the large production of seeds ever enters the population, and ii) Historically the harvest of fruits was probably much higher (probably for hundreds of years) and geographically extensive. In summary, it is not possible to make a positive NDF for ribs, but it is possible to do so for trade based on the harvest of wild seeds and fruits, including their derivatives. b) More studies to elucidate growth rates on populations throughout the distribution range are needed, mainly to calibrate the relationships between size and age of the individuals. c) More research to determine the extent of genetic differentiation between populations is needed. That will allow grading the effect of harvesting across the whole distribution range, or if populations can be assigned to certain biotypes, to assess the most imperilled populations.
Record source
Information about the record source: grey_lit
Date of publication/issue/production: 2008-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Date of record entry: 2023-10-05