Johannesburg, January 11: Scientists at the University of Johannesburg have started a DNA bar-coding project to stop the smuggling of endangered cycad species in the country.
Botany masters student Philip Rousseau started the project with the aim of creating a barcode library for the African Encephalartos species in an attempt to control collectors in America and the Far East who are prepared to pay up to R71 000 for a large specimen of a rare species, university spokesperson Herman Esterhuizen said in a statement.
The plants – either plucked from the wild or taken from nature reserves and botanical gardens – are sold illegally.
“Of South Africa’s 38 species of cycads, three are extinct in the wild and the remainder has been pushed close to the brink by thieves,” said Rousseau.
“This project forms part of a global initiative to DNA barcode all the trees of the world within the next five years.”
—Agencies