Hoodia the succulent plant in cultivation and nature

The spotlight on Hoodia gordonii and other Hoodia species resulting from their role in weight loss, created challenges like cultivating Hoodia and saving Hoodia from exploitation in the wild habitat.

Saving Hoodia

This is a concern for most people. Plants that grow in very dry or desert areas are scarce, they have a tough time to survive. Harvesting Hoodia from nature is obviously going to do a lot of harm, but as harvesting from the wild is not practical, this may not be an urgent threat.

It is not practical to harvest Hoodia direct from the habitat. There is not enough plants and the infrastructure like roads and accommodations are not very convenient either.

Wrong ! The people who live in that harsh habitat make very little money - if any. They were tempted by the money and gathered any plants they could find.

Hoodia must be grown commercially for commercial purposes, there is no way that wild plants will supply enough plants to satisfy the demand without serious harm to the species.

Saving rare plants

Many plants that are rare in their habitat are sold all over the world without problem after they were cultivated.

The most beautiful aloe, Aloe polyphylla grows high on the Lesotho mountains where it frequently snows in winter.

This aloe is being propagated from seeds as well as by tissue culture in Britain and Europe - probably world wide in the colder countries - where these aloes flourish. There is no need to take plants from the habitat.

That is only one example, there are hundreds more.

The effects that cultivating Hoodia might have on Hoodia species in nature

Hoodia is fast disappearing at many natural habitats. The local people are tempted by the money which is very scarce in the harsh climates where Hoodia is found. Hoodia must be grown commercially for commercial purposes, there is no way that enough plants can be harvested out of the wild habitat. If the cultivation of Hoodia by tissue culture and seeds are in large quantities that may make the harvesting of wild plants unpractical and save some wild Hoodias.

The problem of hybrids and other plants in the wild habitat is very real to all the wild plants in South Africa or the world. Of all the plants worldwide the desert plants are the best protected by natural conditions against invading exotic plants.

The danger of new hybrids into the habitat is not much of a problem. The cultivated plants will not survive and if one does survive chances are there will not be another Hoodia nearby which have bloomed the same time as the hybrid.

It is much more convenient with better results, to cultivate Hoodia under protective circumstances in the rural farm areas than to try and cultivate Hoodia in the harsh natural habitat.

It seems out of perspective to try and stop the cultivation of Hoodia plants. There might be a small chance that plants of the genus Hoodia could be threatened by cultivated plants, but at the moment the genus Hoodia is definitely threatened by over-collecting.

If the cultivation of Hoodia is stopped in South Africa that would mean a loss of income but no real problem for the manufacturing of Hoodia products, as Hoodia is being cultivated already on a large scale in other countries.