Crime, culture and collecting: the illicit cycad market in South Africa

ii Plagiarism declaration iii Chapter 1: Illicit markets 8 The illegal wildlife trade 10 Cycads in South Africa 14 Poaching and trade of cycads 17 Medicine and magic 19 The international trade 20 Conclusion: why the focus on cycads? 22 Chapter 2: Regulating and examining the market 24 Regulation and legislation 24 Closing the gap in the literature 29 Challenges 31 Interviews 32 Document analysis 33 Descriptive statistics 33 Analytical strategy 34 Chapter 3: The cycad market: Collectors or criminals? 35 Cycads as status symbols 35 Connection to the land: The roots of collecting 37 The extent of the illicit cycad market 40 Collectors or criminals? 45 Conclusion 47 Chapter 4: The illegal cycad trade as criminal enterprise 48 Organised crime and criminal networks 48 The nature of criminal enterprises 53 Conservation strategies, deterrence and rational choice 55 CRIME, CULTURE AND COLLECTING: THE ILLICIT CYCAD MARKET IN SOUTH AFRICA vi The green discourse 58 Conclusion 59 Chapter 6: Conclusion 60 References 64 Appendices 72 CRIME, CULTURE AND COLLECTING: THE ILLICIT CYCAD MARKET IN SOUTH AFRICA vii List of Figures Figure 1. Caged cycad (Encephalartos woodii) exhibited at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens 15 Figure 2: Approximate distribution of cycads in South Africa according to conservation status as per the criteria in the SANBI Red List of South African Plants (SANBI, 2017. Retrieved from http://redlist.sanbi.org/) 16 Figure 3: Domestic and international trade routes for cycads (the evidence for the international routes are weak to moderate) 44 Figure 4: The interaction of individuals in the criminal networks that facilitate the illicit cycad market 53 CRIME, CULTURE AND COLLECTING: THE ILLICIT CYCAD MARKET IN SOUTH AFRICA 8 Chapter 1: Illicit markets Illicit markets embrace a substantial portion of economies around the world and involve trade of illegal and/or regulated commodities. Even though it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to measure, estimates propose that black market products are worth about US$1.64 trillion, which represents two percent of the totality of legal market transactions (US$77 trillion). The most prominent markets include prostitution, illegal gambling, counterfeit electronics, marijuana, cocaine, prescription drug use, counterfeit drugs and electronics (Havocscope, 2017). Unsurprisingly, the size of the licit economy correlates with the size of its illicit counterpart although some countries are home to a disproportionate amount of black markets (Schneider, Buehn & Montenegro, 2010). While countries such as the United States and China are particularly exposed to clandestine economies, globalisation gives rise to transnational markets that blur the line between legal and illegal trade (Andreas, 2004). Like their legal counterparts, illicit markets are multifaceted systems of trade that fluctuate in character over time and place. Illegal trade, crime trade, crime industry, and enterprise crime are only a number of concepts that attempt to encompass the meaning of crime as business (Von Lampe, 2015). While these concepts are often used interchangeably they generally encompass the role and activities of organised crime groups or networks in managing or controlling such markets. In fact, the study of organised crime was initially an effort to understand the increase of mafia style activities and markets during the latter half of the 20 century (Cressey, 1969). However, contemporary research emphasises concepts such as illicit markets, illegal governance and criminal networks (Von Lampe, 2015). According to Williams (2009), “Illegal markets involve at least four separate categories of commodities and services: (1) prohibited goods or services, such as drugs or commercial sex; (2) regulated commodities, such as antiquities or fauna and flora; (3) taxed commodities, such as cigarettes; and (4) stolen CRIME, CULTURE AND COLLECTING: THE ILLICIT CYCAD MARKET IN SOUTH AFRICA 9 goods, such as cars” (p. 107). Thus, the definition undermines the focus on criminal syndicates and acknowledges that individuals partake in the trade of prohibited, regulated, taxed and stolen commodities. The nature and scope of illicit markets fluctuate to a significant degree because of diverse systems of nonconforming transactions. Indeed, it is important to analyse the difference between the wide array of markets that fall outside of the rules and conventions of traditional institutions (Feige, 2016). For example, black markets refer to markets that involve unlawful elements or noncompliant behaviours while grey markets involve the trade of commodities through legal, yet unintended or immoral, distribution channels (Naylor, 2004). In addition, informal economies evade taxation and governmental monitoring, which increase the likelihood of integrating black or grey economies (Feige, 2016). Hence, unobserved markets are characterised by noncompliance and secrecy, whereas their socioeconomic and political impacts depend on the importance of the regulation and severity of the violation. More specifically, trade of prohibited, regulated, taxed and stolen commodities is a concern because of its potential to cause harm to human virtue and public welfare, although measures of the latter concepts are subjective by nature. Ever since the abolition of the slave trade in the 18 century, civil rights organisations, in conjunction with humanitarian judicial decision-making, have sought to ban markets that violate basic human rights (Arlacchi, 1998). In the aftermath of World War I and World War II, international conventions, multilateral treaties and domestic legislation were implemented to combat the most notorious commodities such as drugs, weapons and humans (Arlacchi, 1998). More recently, trade of antiquities, logged timber, tobacco, biological organs, counterfeit medicine and automobile parts as well as currency have been prohibited or regulated because the adverse impacts associated with the markets (Warchol, 2004; Tijhuis, 2006; Staake et al., 2009). CRIME, CULTURE AND COLLECTING: THE ILLICIT CYCAD MARKET IN SOUTH AFRICA 10 Although the aforementioned markets arose as a result of demand, the desires of consumers stem from the legal but also the cultural context, which forces subsequent criminal enterprises to respond in accordance with the specific circumstances that drive the market. For instance, numerous illicit markets, such as illegal trade of alcohol and tobacco, transpire to evade taxation, so the price of illegal goods outcompete legal counterparts (Feige, 2016). The criminal enterprises must therefore steal the products or purchase them in other states before smuggling them across borders, which involves a level of risk that depends on the legislation within those states. Furthermore, drug markets involve consumers that are addicted to and subsequently need the product, and stringent legislation along with severe sentences require the criminal enterprises to implement clandestine distribution channels (Reuter, 2009). In addition, the extreme profit margins, without access to criminal and civil courts as well as other entities that could manage disputes, lead the enterprises to operate in ways that ensure the subsistence of the organisation, such as hierarchical command, violence and bribery (Andreas & Wallman, 2009). Outside of drug markets however, the particular culture of other individual markets has not been widely examined and the expanding literature on organised crime most often addresses the interaction between illegality and a set of market conditions (scarcity, costs of delivery and protection, etc.). Yet it could be said that criminal enterprises form in response to the culture of the market and the desires that drive the consumers to purchase the commodities that are often rational and economic in nature. The illegal wildlife trade On the other hand, the contextual factors that drive the illegal wildlife trade and the criminal enterprises that arise in response are very different from traditional illicit markets. The illegal wildlife trade is a small, but significant, portion of the totality of illicit markets. It is gradually receiving more attention from governments, scholars and non-governmental CRIME, CULTURE AND COLLECTING: THE ILLICIT CYCAD MARKET IN SOUTH AFRICA 11 organisations as some estimations suggest that it is the second largest illicit market in the world (Zimmerman, 2003). Although the shadow figure is substantial, the licit market is worth some US$159 billion per year while the illicit market is annually worth approximately US$6 billion (Zimmerman, 2003). However, as there is no standard method to measure the value of wildlife, other estimates can be markedly different. For instance, Galster (2008) suggests that the illicit wildlife trade is worth between US$10 billion and US$20 billion. Nevertheless, legitimate traders suffer immense monetary losses and the negative environmental impacts are beyond calculation. Importantly, the illegal wildlife trade involves “the collection, harvesting, possession, processing, acquiring or transporting of wildlife for the purpose of purchasing, importing exporting, selling, bartering or exchanging” (Burgener et al., 2001). The activities relate to any wild animals or plants, but also its derivatives, including endangered, protected and regulated species (South & Wyatt, 2011). Yet, the variety of wildlife products is manifold and purchased by a range of different actors, such as collectors, game farms and circuses. What is more, animal parts are sold for use in African and Asian medicines or as clothing, rugs and decoration in the case of pelts. Several plant species are also poached for holistic medicines and decoration, and marine species are exploited to meet the demand for delicacies throughout the world (Warchol, 2004). Consequently, each market has a set of specific characteristics related to the desires of the consumers and the criminal enterpris