About eight years ago, Cam Juarez embarked on his first day as the newly appointed Community Engagement Officer at Saguaro National Park, full of first-day jitters. Nothing could have prepared him to find himself in the center of a crime scene. Laying on the ground were six healthy saguaros, illegally sliced up on the ground from the previous night.
​
Juarez will never forget that day.
“Tucson went bananas,” he recalls, “there was a manhunt trying to find the person because it was so awful.”
​
Sadly, this isn’t an isolated incident. Across the Southwest, thousands of saguaros are common targets of the growing cactus black market. Cactus poachers often sell saguaro arms for hundreds of dollars. Unfortunately, this isn’t the only issue that threatens saguaros. A new and more concerning threat is hurting Arizona’s beloved cacti: climate.
​
While saguaros are known to thrive in the desert, climate change and other environmental factors have made their habitat too hot and dry for these succulents to handle. The sad reality is that Arizona’s beloved saguaro cacti are dying. As the climate conditions continue to rise and more saguaros die, the consequences for Arizona’s wildlife and biodiversity are severe.
Photo Credit: Desert Botanical Gardens
Photo Credit: Ireland Fleck at Desert Botanical Garden
SENTINELS OF THE SOUTHWEST
In the heart of the scorching Sonoran Desert live the majestic saguaro cacti. Captivating both locals and tourists, the Carnegiea gigantea, more commonly known as the saguaro, is one of the most iconic and well-known succulents of the American Southwest. They are vital to Arizona’s climate, biodiversity and Native American culture.
​
These desert giants, the largest cactus species in the U.S., stand up to 40 feet tall. They are not just cacti but living monuments, with an average lifespan of 150-200 years. Saguaros are unique, growing only in the elevated regions of the Sonoran Desert, which stretches across parts of Arizona, California and Mexico.
Sonoran Desert (brown), with an overlay of the range of
the saguaro cactus (green)
For thousands of years, Native American tribes, such as the Tohono O’odham people, used saguaros in their everyday lives. White flowers grow on top of saguaros every May and June, which blossom into bright red fruits. Every year, the Tohono O’odham people harvest saguaro fruits, cook them, eat them raw or turn the nectar into sweet syrup. To this day, many Native Americans follow in their ancestor’s footsteps and collect these fruits yearly.
​
Beyond their prickly appearance, saguaros have a beautiful relationship with the desert’s biodiversity. Saguaros provide shelter and safety for many species of desert wildlife, including small birds, insects and wild animals like coyotes. Birds like the Gila Woodpecker often carve holes in saguaros' sides to build their nests. Coyotes climb on top of saguaros to hide from predators.
​
For Juarez, what makes saguaros so special is how they continue to give life even in death.
​
“When the saguaro gets old enough or if there is an environmental element to make it fall,” said Juarez, “they will eventually become part of the soil. It will provide nutrients for other saguaros and other plants.”
Photo Credit: Desert Botanical Gardens
Photo Credit: Ireland Fleck at Desert Botanical Garden
Photo Credit: Desert Botanical Gardens
HOTTEST IN HISTORY
Arizona’s saguaro cacti are dying.
​
Saguaro National Park’s 2020 Saguaro Census estimates they have over 2.1 million saguaros in the park. However, they estimate that 1,200 saguaros died in 2023 alone. Experts believe that the cause of this is extreme weather.
​
Data compiled by The National Weather Service Phoenix finds that summer 2023 is the twentieth hottest summer in Arizona’s history.
National Weather Service Phoenix Twitter
While intense heat plays a part in the death of the saguaro, it isn’t the main culprit. Dr. Tania Hernandez, a research scientist at Desert Botanical Garden, believes Arizona’s drought and lack of monsoon rains are the most significant reasons they die.
​
“Based on my personal observations and other people’s observations, is that we notice that more plants are dying. We notice that extreme heat and the lack of monsoon rain causes the plants to die.”
​
The National Weather Service Phoenix also finds that summer 2023 is the tenth driest summer since 1895, with about 2.46” of rain. Compared to summer 2022, with about 6.21” of rain.
While cacti don’t need much water, they have limits. According to the National Park Service, the mass of a saguaro contains about 75%-95% water.
If saguaro’s shallow roots don’t have access to water, Hernandez explains that they won’t be able to do certain things, such as produce photosynthesis.
Dr. Tania Hernandez and her perspective on why saguaros are dying.
“Unlike animals like us, plants don’t move. When you are hot, you can move and get shade, but plants cannot. The problem for plants is that it is extremely hot, and if they can’t cool down, they stop performing photosynthesis; they stop breathing.”
​
There is not enough data to predict what next summer will hold. Hernandez predicts that more saguaros will die as temperatures rise in the future.
Photo Credit: Ireland Fleck at Desert Botanical Garden
Photo Credit: Ireland Fleck at Desert Botanical Garden
Photo Credit: Ireland Fleck
PROTECTION
To protect saguaros, lawmakers are finding ways to help Arizona’s environment.
​
Unlike other plants, saguaros are protected by strict laws. In Arizona, vandalizing or cutting down saguaros is a felony. Depending on the judge and the person’s record, perpetrators can face many years in prison.
​
There are also strict regulations if residents want to relocate a saguaro. According to the Arizona Department of Agriculture, if someone is looking into retransplanting a saguaro over 4 feet tall, they must apply for a permit. From there, the landowner must then fill out an extensive application.
​
While strict, these laws are in place for a reason. Sarah Hunt is the director of policy and strategy at the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service at Arizona State University. She believes that saguaros are so heavily protected because they cannot be easily replaced as they are only a few inches in the first ten years of their lives.
​
“We can't just replant them like how we can replant other plants.”
​
As Arizona’s dry climate worsens, lawmakers are working on more ways to protect saguaros, including partnering with Saguaro National Park to bring more water to the saguaros. While it isn’t clear what this partnership entails, Hunt believes it can benefit Arizona and its saguaros.
​
“Lack of water and water scarcity is a very important issue in Arizona. And I believe it is top of mind for every elected official.”
Photo Credit: Ireland Fleck at Desert Botanical Gardens
The biggest issue that politicians are having is getting other people to understand the severity of climate change and the importance of water for saguaros.
​
“There is a lot of disagreement about how big of an issue climate change really is and what we ought to do about it as a society and as a government,” said Hunt, “And I think the challenge there is having that conversation in such a way that we are all listening to each other and also understand that we need to make choices that balance a healthy environment and how we interact with climate change.”
National treasures such as the saguaro cactus can better help people understand the science of climate change.
NEXT STEPS
While the future doesn’t look bright for Arizona’s saguaros, there is still hope. According to Hernandez, replacing and planting more is the key to saving Arizona’s beloved saguaros.
​
“If we are going to do something, we need to start acting,” said Hernandez. “If we want to preserve saguaros in the Valley, we need to start doing that now. The best way to do that is by planting more saguaros.”
​
Currently, efforts are being made to help protect these beloved succulents. At the Desert Botanical Garden, they plan to create an adopt-a-saguaro program for conservation purposes.
​
They are working on gathering seeds from areas that adapt well to extreme temperatures in hopes they can survive urban settings. This may take a couple of years to run.
​
In the meantime, there are ways people can preserve and protect their saguaros now. The best way people can take care of their saguaros is not to overwater them. Instead, run a hose 2′-3′ feet from the base of the cactus. Let the water trickle for 4-6 hours monthly during summer.
​
For many in the Southwest, the saguaro symbolizes resilience and strength. People come from around the world to see one, and it is hard to imagine a world without them.
​
Juarez explains that Arizona’s biodiversity and food chain will disappear if all saguaros die.
​
“If you kill a keystone species like the saguaro, all the interdependent species and the biodiversity that relies on it, the food chain will also disappear.”
​
As the future looks uncertain, saguaros need protection more than ever. Juarez warns, “It is one of our species here that we need to protect. Once it is gone, it will never come back.”
​
For those with more serious concerns about the saguaro, contact the Garden’s plant hotline at planthotline@dbg.org.
​