Are Research Papers Laundering Poached Plants?—Lessons from a Succulent Naming Scandal

In early 2025, the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) and the Mesemb Study Group (MSG) uncovered a major problem - when a Chinese horticulturist applied to publish a paper on a new Lithops cultivar (Lithops N. E. Br.), the peer-review system suddenly raised an alarm! It turned out that the applicant's name was identical to that of a succulent poacher once arrested by the South African police.

The horticulturist said: "Just because I share a name with someone, am I now banned from releasing a legitimate species?" Environmental organisations were quick to release alarming data: Over the past five years, criminals had indeed been smuggling stolen wild succulents into the market by disguising them as artificially bred new varieties - packaged as 'domesticated varieties'. 

Later, the Mesemb Study Group (MSG) consulted experts from the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) and members of the Clean Internet for Conophytum for verification. They confirmed that this was a case of "different people under the same name" and that the horticulturist had not illegally harvested or been involved in the trade of wild succulents. The wrongly accused horticulturist regained publication rights after "proving his innocence".

But the mix-up highlighted a long-overlooked problem in the industry: Some poachers use academic papers to 'launder' stolen plants. As experts have noted, "Behind a name there may be thousands of wild succulents weeping from illegal harvesting". Clearly, the horticultural academic community cannot condone poachers using research to "gild" their loot.

Original Chinese link:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Mn_hJR5pJGo08CQCiraxDg
Edited by YJ
Reviewed by Maggie
Contact: v10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776

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