The cycads have been with us for perhaps 100 million years, but in recent times their numbers and perhaps diversity in nature have dwindled due to competition with flowering plants. Perhaps the single most serious threat to their continuing existence is man, collecting wild plants for ornamental applications. On the scientific front we have lately learnt that these plants have very specialised pollinators, and that re-establishment in nature is unlikely to be successful without profound knowledge of the biology of these plants. Against this background, we firstly promote interest in, and appreciation of, these plants by propagating and growing them as horticultural subjects, and secondly we actively encourage scientific research and the documentation thereof so that we can keep the captive and remaining wild plants alive in years to come.
Cycadfriends is a registered public-benefit, non-profit organization established for the following sole objective: To provide a platform for members of the public and specialized agencies to collectively raise awareness in terms of the conservation of cycads, primarily underlining the importance of ensuring that there is a constant, legal supply of artificially propagated cycads to supply the commercial demand, so that people do not have to resort to illegal means such as the poaching of threatened, protected, endangered and critically endangered wild specimen of cycads to sell to collectors and/or hobbyists.
CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.