Picking of Flora

I'm currently looking at getting a permit to pick flora, but something in the "rules" got me thinking. Hoping someone can clarify.

It states that you need a permit if you are picking flora which is within 90m from the centre of the road. (Say you see flowers on the side of the road, and they're within 90m of the centre of that road, you need a permit)

What I'm wondering is, what if there's no road closeby? What if the flowers (just using flowers as an example) are further than 90m from the centre of the road? Would one still need a permit then?

See this link: http://www.capenature.org.za/permits.htm?sm[p1][category]=458&sm[p1][persistent]=1&

Am I possibly misunderstanding what is said here? Maybe someone can elaborate a little better.

 

you need to look at the national eviromental laws as well.... not just the cape nature ones

 

Oooh ok, thanks Henk. Would those be our government laws? Just want to see where I should be looking.

 

not sure exactly which one - ask the Prof - he has many of the permits

 

Thanks Henk, I shall find out from the Prof.

 

I would suggest you contact SANBI http://www.sanbi.org/. Make sure you have the exact species of plants you would like to collect and they will be able to accurately advise you on what permits are needed.

Please also remember the ecosystem in which the plants exist may also warrant the need for a permit i.e Coastal and Other Forest types, Protected Grasslands, Fynbos

 

Thanks for the info Kaizer! GReat help

 

The answer to the original question is quite simple. This legislation and these rules are aimed at defining the law within what is known as the "road reserve" which is the area from the tar of the road to where the first fence starts. This property belongs to the provincial authorities because the property on which all public roads are is owned by the province.

If there is no fence within 90 m of the road, this does not mean that this property can just be accessed and flora can be collected there. Such property again either belongs to the province or to private individuals and then you need the permission of those parties to collect flora there.

All flora besides plants that are declared aliens are protected by law and if you wish to collect them, for botanical or for picking purposes are subject to a permit being issued. This is completely besides whether they are on state or private property. So, if I want to collect Erica species for example, I need a permit from Cape Nature to collect them. If I want to collect them from a private property, I need to have permission from the landowner as well. If I want to collect in a National Park such as the Cape Peninsula Park, I need to register a research project with them justifying the collection and then only will a permit be issued.

So, just to put you off getting any ideas about collecting plants further than 90 m from a road, you need a permit, you cannot get around this. Even if you are a landowner, you need a permit to pick indigenous plants from your own property. The technical term that is used is that you need permission to "pluck flowers".

Hope this helps not to confuse you even more, but don't get any ideas, this has been thought through very thoroughly.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Thanks for the indepth explanation Dirk. It makes sense. No funny ideas here

I'm in the process of speaking to someone over at Cape Nature, but I can see this not working. Not much of an effort for only a small amount of plants me thinks.

 

Can you buy from a indigenous nursery without a permit?

 

Vis, are you saying the nursery doesn't have a permit?

 

Just wondering if you bought it there can someone from conservation do anything to you?

 

Yes, you can buy plants from an indigenous nursery without a permit, but if you have threatened plants like cycads you need a permit.

Dirk

And Linxie,

you do not need a permit for a nursery at all, indigenous or not indigenous, no difference, again the only thing you will need a permit for are the cycads.

Kind regards,

Dirk