On the face of it, succulents are quiet, almost modest plants. But in South Africa, they have become the centre of a fast-growing illegal trade that is drawing global attention and demanding new legal responses.

During April 2026, an international knowledge exchange hosted by Sungkonghoe University in Seoul brought together researchers and practitioners working across South Africa, South Korea and the United Kingdom. Among them was Dr Annette Hübschle from the University of Cape Town’s Faculty of Law, whose work focuses on environmental crime and governance.

The conversations, she reflects, were unexpectedly energising. “The discussions gave us real hope for what South African and Korean collaboration can achieve.”

The exchange forms part of an exploratory research project on succulent supply and demand, funded by the UK Government’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. It brings together an interdisciplinary team spanning law, conservation science and criminology, including collaborators from University College London and the South African National Biodiversity Institute.

What emerged is a picture that is both urgent and complex.

On the supply side, the scale of illegal harvesting is striking. Since 2019, more than 1.16 million plants and over 323,000 seeds have been confiscated in South Africa. Over 500 species have been affected. Demand is shifting rapidly, with increasing interest in caudiciform and bulb species, alongside a sharp rise in seed trafficking.

At the same time, the social impact is uneven. Local communities in the Northern and Western Cape often bear the costs of enforcement and ecological loss, while profits are largely captured by organised criminal networks.

Yet the demand side tells a more nuanced story.

“The Korean succulent market is one of the most dynamic in the world,” Hübschle explains. Over the past two decades, a strong “companion plant” culture has emerged, with collectors showing clear preferences for cultivated and ethically sourced plants. “That is precisely the kind of consumer culture that can drive positive change, if the right trade infrastructure exists to support it.”
This insight shifts the conversation. Rather than focusing solely on prohibition and enforcement, the exchange explored alternative pathways rooted in legality, sustainability, and fairness.

The aim is to develop trade models that keep wild plants in the ground, while creating economic opportunities through ethical cultivation. This includes building partnerships with nurseries and collector networks, strengthening certification systems, and advancing policy dialogue around international frameworks such as CITES.

For Dr Hübschle, what matters is the possibility of alignment. “We are actively looking to build research collaborations, partnerships with ethical growers, and policy engagement that supports benefit-sharing.”

It is an approach that reflects a broader shift in environmental law, one that recognises that durable solutions must work across borders and across sectors. It also highlights the role of legal scholarship in shaping practical responses to emerging forms of environmental harm.

In a field often defined by regulation and enforcement, the story of succulents offers something different. It is about connection, between ecosystems and markets, between local communities and global collectors, and between legal systems that must learn to work together.