The poaching of Dudleya Plants: Why to obscure your observations

Why or why not obscure or make private your observations of Dudleya species in California.

Personally I think it is more important than ever to document the species wherever they are, and accurately ID them. There has been a very high demand for these species in China as houseplants (and perhaps for supposed medicinal purposes?). Poachers have come to California and literally stripped our coastal bluffs of the plants by rappelling down the cliff faces, filling van-loads, shipping them from any local post office, and working their way down the coast. Fortunately, some wardens have caught some of them, but not before our bluffs were stripped.

Inland areas are also in danger of the same activity with local species.

So, documenting what is left and where is important for researchers as well as CDFW to follow how the plants survive and recover. That said, obscure the observations or make them PRIVATE every single time -- at this time, iNat app does not do that automatically like it does for endangered or threatened species. This way, we can help protect these plants and at the same time help document where they continue to thrive.

Check out this YouTube documenting the poaching activities "Plant Heist": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qidgwbCPhNA

We met this warden a couple of weeks ago when he was patrolling the Mendocino Headlands on foot, just interacting with visitors and regulars, telling his story, petting the dogs (he recently lost his K9 partner to old age and misses her terribly -- she could sniff out and alert him to a huge number of items including dudleya, ammunition/spent ammo casings, marijuana, abalone, and more).

I have witnessed the decimation of local dudleya on some back-roads where there had been hundreds of dudleya just two years ago, and during the pandemic poachers stripped the entire embankments of everything. Those were "Canyon Liveforever." So when I am out hiking in our local parks and lands, I do document the plants, properly identify the species and obscure the location. While I am doing this, I educate anyone who is with me -- a guided hike, a park preview day, a hiking buddy.

Ask me anything!!

Publicado el mayo 6, 2023 03:49 TARDE por wildmare64