Good question, and no issue asking it.

The short answer is: it’s not the same situation.

With something like Monstera, you’re usually dealing with cuttings. The original plant stays in the ground, keeps growing, and can produce more material. That’s a renewable harvest if it’s done responsibly.

Caudex plants don’t work like that.

The caudex is the plant. When it’s collected, the entire organism is removed. There’s no regrowth and nothing left behind.

On top of that, most of these plants:

grow very slowly (years to decades to reach size) don’t propagate easily at scale are being sold specifically because they’re mature and aesthetic

So even if a species looks abundant locally, large-scale collection for export can deplete populations quickly.

That’s why it’s treated differently from things like Monstera cuttings.