For many, the giant quiver tree Aloe pillansii is the flagship species of the Richtersveld. Listed in Janice Golding's 2002 Southern African Plant Red Data Lists as Critically Endangered, by definition it faces an 'extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future'. Local botanists and conservators such as Jeremy Midgley, Graham Williamson and Elsabe Powell (see Veld and Flora December 2003, page 150) have previously written about the decline of this keystone species in the Richtersveld. No-one is quite sure, but causes for its demise have been variously listed as off-road vehicle impacts, illegal collecting, grazing by goats, damage by porcupines and baboons and drought stress as a result of climate change.