ABSTRACT
Natural resource and environmental degradation through illegal exploitation in its various forms has for many years now been of critical concern to those interested in biodiversity conservation and sustainable utilisation issues. Frequently, intervention programmes have, due to public outcry and censure, been implemented to check and control environmental perturbation. Sadly, most have been directed almost exclusively at protecting those species perceived to possess a higher intrinsic value or profile in the public arena, as in rhino and elephant poaching, cycad smuggling and even abalone and rock lobster plundering along certain of South Africa’s seaboards.
