Blouberg Local Municipality.

Warburgia salutaris Bertol.f.) Chiov. (Canellaceae) is a highly sought-after medicinal plant (bark) traded throughout southern Africa. As a result of bark overharvesting, the species is endangered (IUCN Red List). Local extinction of W. salutaris has been recorded in the northern parts of the KwaZulu-Natal Province. Only a few remnant populations are left in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa. There is a lack of data on W. salutaris resource base in the wild. One resource base assessment of W. salutaris was done in Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces in 1999. As a result, it remains unknown if the remnant populations in the wild would be able to sustain the current and future demand. This information is critical to inform the development of the necessary conservation interventions. This will also ensure that the primary health care and livelihood benefits associated with W. salutaris are not lost. To achieve conservation and sustainable use of W. salutaris, this project will carry out extensive field surveys to assess the species distribution and abundance, habitat quality, susceptibility to climate change, including the harvesting method (i.e. destructive vs. non-destructive and susceptibility to disease post-harvest) and life cycle characteristics (e.g. reproductive capabilities and generation time).

The project findings will be used:

(1) to inform policy development, provincial and national legislation (e.g. Threatened or Protected Species of South Africa and the IUCN Red List) and law enforcement;

(2) to contextualise community-based natural resources management and rural livelihood strategies (e.g. W. salutaris cultivation)

(3) to provide a baseline for future monitoring including informing progress towards achieving the post-2020 Global Strategy for Plant Conservation targets.