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Wild population of flowering Aloe ferox, Kabouga, Eastern Cape province. Photo credit: Richard Cowling.
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Sustainable harvesting practices are important for conserving plant species and their habitats, but also the livelihoods of those that depend on them. Aloe ferox, a valuable natural resource harvested for its leaves, is the focus of a recent rural development initiative in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. This has the potential to benefit poor res...
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Context 1
... ferox is a tall (2-3 m, but can reach 5 m), single- stemmed leaf succulent plant (Fig. 2, Reynolds 1950;van Wyk and Smith 2014). The dull green leaves are boat-shaped (15 × 100 cm) and form a rosette on top of the stem (Klopper and Smith 2011). The stem is covered in a fire-resistant skirt of old dry leaves (Reynolds 1950;van Wyk and Smith 2014). ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL 71 It is distributed in South Africa from the Western Cape province with a few localities in the extreme southwestern part of Free State and southwestern Lesotho (Fig. 1 (van Jaarsveld 1996). There are a number of insect pests associated with it (see Greengrass 2004), but these do not appear to threaten the species (Newton and Vaughan ...
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Citations
... After cutting its leaves, this ground-dwelling aloe emits abundant yellow sap with apparent adhesive properties ( Fig. 1A and SI Appendix, Fig. S3). Today, large quantities of A. ferox sap are commercially harvested in South Africa (18) to be used as a food additive and in cosmetics. Sap can be collected by scraping it off from cut leaves. ...
Studying the earliest archaeological adhesives has implications for our understanding of human cognition. In southern Africa, the oldest adhesives were made by Homo sapiens in the Middle Stone Age. Chemical studies have shown that these adhesives were made from a local conifer of the Podocarpaceae family. However, Podocarpus does not exude resin, nor any other substance that could have been recognized as having adhesive properties. Therefore, it remains unknown how these adhesives were made. This study investigates how Podocarpus adhesives can be made, comparing their mechanical properties with other naturally available adhesives. We found that Podocarpus tar can only be made by dry distillation of leaves, requiring innovative potential, skill, and knowledge. This contrasts with our finding that the Middle Stone Age environment was rich in substances that can be used as adhesives without such transformation. The apparent preference for Podocarpus tar may be explained by its mechanical properties. We found it to be superior to all other substances in terms of its adhesive properties. In addition, the condensation method that allows producing it can be recognized accidentally, as the processes take place above ground and can be triggered accidentally. Our findings have implications for establishing a link between technology and cognition in the Middle Stone Age.
... The study indicated a positive and robust impact of social contribution on natural resources price volatility. Likewise, Huang, Sadiq & Chien et al. (2021b) and Melin et al. (2017) explored the ecological and social determinants of harvesting and expanding natural resources industries in South Africa. The primary focus of social contribution is to maintain the sustainability and values of natural resources in the export and international markets. ...
Recently, the economic and non-economic factors significantly influenced the natural resources commodity prices that need the attention of researchers and regulators. Therefore, this study examined the impact of economic factors (inflation and gross domestic product (GDP) growth) and non-economic factors (social contribution and human capital) on the natural resources' commodity prices in China. The secondary data from 1986 to 2019 was gathered and analyzed by E-views. The variance inflation factor (VIF) was run to examine the mul-ticollinearity, Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test (ADF) to investigate the unit root, and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to test the linkage among variables. The results indicated that inflation, GDP growth, social contribution, and human capital positively link with natural resources commodity prices in China. This research provides the guidelines to the policymakers while developing policies regarding economic and non-economic factors and natural resources prices.
... The Cape Aloe production and trade have been extensively assessed and reviewed at regular intervals since the 1990s (Berliner et al., 2020;Knapp, 2006;Marumo et al., 2014;Melin, 2009;Melin et al., 2017;Newton and Vaughan, 1996;Oldfield, 1993;Palmer and Weideman, 2021;Sachedina and Bodecker, 1999;Sinovas et al., 2016;Steenkamp, 2015). ...
Aloe and Aloe products have at a long history of use dating back to antiquity. Use and trade were originally
dominated by Barbados or Cura¸cao (A. vera), and Socotra aloe (A. perryi). Commercialization of Cape Aloe was
initiated by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), likely to add to their existing aloe trade, and Cape Aloe was
brought back to Europe as early as 1761. Albeit aloes’ early official history was marred by taxonomic confusion,
Cape Aloe made its way into the world’s pharmacopoeias as early as the late 18th century and its popularity
has held steady into the 20th century. While it is still an ingredient in established phytomedicines with
standard monographs and multiple of products in the marketplace, it has lately become the subject of a
safety concern, along with other anthraquinone-yielding plant species, and its ban for use in food products
by the European Commission is imminent. In the following study we review the history of Cape Aloe products
establishing themselves in world markets, alongside the milestones of pre-clinical and clinical research
into the safety and efficacy of these products.
... The main source of plant material supplying this industry is A. debrana harvested from natural populations near to villages and infrastructure. Harvesting of aloes from the wild at current rates for commercial uses in Ethiopia will likely lead to destruction of some populations in their natural habitat, as has been previously discussed in other regions (Wabuyele and Kyalo, 2008;Grace, 2011;Melin et al. 2017). In Kenya, a National Strategy for the conservation and management of commercial Aloe species was launched in July 2007 for Aloe species. ...
... The international transport of aloes is, however, controlled by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (www.cites.org). It should also be noted that even well-documented use of wild-harvested Aloe species for commercial purposes, such as Aloe ferox in South Africa, have not yet drawn scientifically-defensible conclusions on optimal leaf harvesting frequency or volume, and there remains a strong need for ongoing monitoring and evaluation (Melin et al., 2017). ...
The genus Aloe is widely used for medicinal purposes throughout its predominantly African distribution, but detailed knowledge of the contemporary value of aloes is patchy. The main aim of this study was to determine the value of Aloe in the Highlands of Ethiopia, a region of rich Aloe diversity, by documenting local uses and perceptions of the sustainability of the species used. Amhara and Tigray community members participated in semi-structured interviews from 110 respondents aged 24-72. Eleven species of Aloe were recorded for medicine, social and environmental uses, animal food, and as bee plants managed for honey production. Of these, the majority of use records were for human medicine to treat malaria and wounds. We found no evidence of non-sustainable harvesting for medicine, but extensive habitat loss and interest in the commercial uses of Aloe present acute threats and indicate the vulnerability of Aloe species in the central and northern Highlands of Ethiopia.
... Our method tested on salep can be used to examine trade in other wild species. For example use of powdered Bitter aloe (Aloe ferox) fibres as a nutraceutical is specified in a patent, which is an addition to known raw products of leaf exudate and leaf mesophyll and uses as cosmetic, food and horticultural plant (Melin et al., 2017;Taylor, 2005). Aloe ferox is also one of three aloe species suggested as suitable for modification to create transgenic aloe for production of biopharmaceuticals that can easily be harvested from the leaf mesophyll (Lowther et al., 2014). ...
Wildlife trade is a threat to species survival and wild collected orchids are a notable component of it. In the first systematic patent review of any wild species, we find many innovative and industrial uses of orchids, using the example of traditional product salep made with wild harvested Mediterranean and Central Asian terrestrial orchids. Despite considerable interest in the conservation of these orchids, no systematic analysis of innovation and technology transfer had been conducted for natural products using them. Our systematic review on salep found 244 patent applications, of which 89 were granted, spanning 163 years from 1855 to 2018. Uses included industrial materials and contemporary medicine formulations. This recalibration of the value of salep using patent analysis shows that, rather than being restricted to two specific products of limited regional circulation, these orchids are a rich source of unique materials with myriad applications around the world. In order to conserve wild terrestrial orchids collected for salep, conservation science must engage with the full extent of the utility of and commercial interest in these particular orchids. Additionally we demonstrate how conservationists can use patents as a source of information on incipient commercial interest in wild species.
... A few economically valuable succulent taxa such as Carnegiea gigantea in the Sonoran Desert (Bruhn, 2017) and Aloe ferox in South Africa (Melin, Grace, Duckworth, Donaldson, & Milner-Gulland, 2017) continue to be largely sourced from natural populations using centuries-old harvesting traditions. An interesting example of a high-value product derived from wild-harvested plant resources is the seed oil from invasive Opuntia species in Madagascar (Hänke, 2017). ...
Societal Impact Statement
Drought‐tolerant plants are increasingly recognized as a resource to mitigate the consequences of climate change. Succulent plants use stored water to sustain metabolism during regular droughts; succulence is a highly successful adaptation that has evolved in thousands of species throughout the plant kingdom. Desert (xeromorphic) succulent species are a potentially relevant resource to manage environments and energy supply in the hottest and driest places. However, many species are threatened with extinction or could become invasive outside their natural range. This review highlights research needed to develop desert succulents as a sustainable resource in a carbon economy.
Summary
Drought and increased temperature of the Earth's surface pose significant social and economic challenges under the anticipated effects of climate change. The presence of a reservoir of water to sustain metabolism under drought conditions is a conceptually simple, but remarkably complex, adaptation in the plant kingdom known broadly as succulence. The trait has arisen repeatedly among flowering plant lineages: thousands of succulent species representing immense taxonomic diversity are found on all continents except the polar regions. The phylogenetic diversity and ecological adaptations of desert‐adapted (xeromorphic) succulent plants could be particularly relevant resources to meet the challenges of environmental change, in applications as varied as bioenergy, urban greening, and high‐value products. However, a more complex picture is emerging in which xeromorphic succulents endemic to arid and semi‐arid regions could be at risk of extinction due to habitat loss and exploitation, while others could become invasive if introduced outside their natural range, thus compounding an existing problem of invasive succulent plant species. This review aims to summarize the state of current knowledge of xeromorphic succulent plants as a resource, draw attention to conservation concerns, and examine the potential for their unique traits to be harnessed in a climate change‐resilient world.
... Usually, taking leaves from the live plant is less destructive to plants hence appear to have little negative impact on plant population (Giday et al., 2003;Kamatenesi-Mugisha and Oryem-Origa, 2007; Chinsembu and Hedimbi, 2010). Indeed, Aloe industries based on apparently sustainable wild-harvested material have been established in Kenya, South Africa and Madagascar (Newton and Vaughan, 1996;Grace, 2011;Melin et al., 2017). ...
The genus Aloe (Asphodelaceae) is well known in Tanzania for its medicinal uses, yet its ethnobotany has not previously been systematically studied in the region. To document the indigenous knowledge of Aloe species, data were collected using semi-structured interviews from 180 respondents of different gender and age groups at four study sites in Tanzania. Thirty-seven uses of Aloe were recorded for 11 species; the majority were for human medicine (73%), and the most frequently mentioned ailment treated was malaria. Leaves were the most frequently used part of the plant. Respondents in the 21–45 and 45 + age groups reported the greatest diversity of uses of Aloe species across the sites, suggesting that the transmission of plant use traditions to younger generation in the 15–20 age group may be waning. Perceived declines in wild populations of Aloe indicate the vulnerability of species and associated indigenous knowledge, and the need for their conservation.
... Working as a farmer is a hereditary inheritance in the community of Bilalangnge. Bilalangnge people sometimes fail to harvest [1] and almost all of them have debts in financial institutions. Bilalangnge people really need sharia economic empowerment to become strong and independent people. ...
This study discusses the development of creative industries training to sharia economic empowerment of bilalangnge community, parepare city which mainly consist of two problems: 1) the process of the development of creative industries in bilalangnge community; and 2) economic change and economic strengthening through creative industry training in bilalangnge community. the approach used is qualitative descriptive analysis method. the data were obtained through observations and interviews in bilalangnge community. the results showed that the process of creative industry activities as an effort to empower the economy in the bilalangnge community was to motivate and change the construction of thinking that the lazy community to be more creative in developing the economy. changes and economic strength in the bilalangnge community is an increase in income every day, become prosperous after carrying out training, becoming a skilled worker, and have the ability to manage product marketing effectively and efficiently.
