Wild American ginseng populations are threatened by humans. Will they go the way of the dodo?
In 1968, Garrett Hardin published his seminal paper: The Tragedy of the Commons. The central idea of the paper revolved around the assumption that rational individuals will inevitably exhaust those natural resources, or common pool resources, that are available to all. Each individual, because they are rational, is compelled to increase exploitation for personal gain, driving collective overexploitation.
According to Hardin, exhaustion of the commons will inevitably result if they are not owned privately or by the government. Many cases seem to support Hardin’s idea. The massive overexploitation of the ocean’s fisheries, widespread deforestation and the enormous loss of biodiversity illustrate the destruction of natural resources that may result without proper governance. Exhaustion of similar common pool resources may continue without intervention.
American ginseng is a common pool resource. The medicinal herb might be found growing in the woods surrounding Athens and more broadly throughout Appalachia. A variety of factors including an intense history of harvest, extensive habitat loss and the slow regenerative capacity of ginseng itself have depleted the populations of American ginseng, and as a result it is currently listed as an Appendix II species in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. This listing means that ginseng is not necessarily threatened with extinction, but may become threatened soon if the trade and harvest of ginseng is not subjected to stricter regulations that deter unsustainable practices.
Unfortunately, unsustainable ginseng harvesting practices have, if anything, been encouraged. Reality-style TV shows such as Appalachian Outlaws and Smoky Mountain Money simultaneously glorify ginseng harvesting, exaggerating its ease and profitability, and promote unethical and illegal harvesting practices such as poaching and violence against other harvesters.
According to statistics released by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources ginseng management program in March 2015, since 2012, the number of licensed buyers has increased by 40 percent, the number of ginseng harvesters by 89 percent, the number of ginseng-related violations and arrests by 71 percent and harvest volume has increased by 88 percent.
Those numbers suggest that as a result of the glorification of ginseng harvesting on the part of these TV shows, people have become increasingly interested in ginseng harvesting, and because of that, they head out to the woods to make a quick buck. But these new ginseng harvesters are most likely uninformed about Ohio’s ginseng regulations and the ethics that allow for the sustainability of ginseng harvest and prevent the overexploitation of wild populations.
Not that bad actors are a novelty for ginseng harvesting. A paper published in 2010 — years before either Appalachian Outlaws or Smoky Mountain Money came on the air — found that noncompliance with harvest regulations is common, threatens ginseng populations and requires more stringent policy to increase compliance. So ginseng appears to be suffering the same fate as many of the other commons: Rational individuals all increase their harvests for personal gain and in the process employ detrimental harvesting practices that harm wild ginseng populations.
Political economist Elinor Ostrom, like many critics of Hardin, called the Tragedy of the Commons oversimplified. Hardin assumed that actors who utilize the commons could not successfully work together to encourage sustainable use of their resources, but many cases demonstrate that they can. But Ostrom also conceded that Hardin’s tragedy does sometimes come true, as in the cases involving ocean fisheries and deforestation. She said that such overexploitation occurs when resource users are anonymous, lack a foundation of trust and reciprocity, do not or cannot communicate and have no established rules.
The situation surrounding ginseng seems to fit the conditions that Ostrom described as necessary for Hardin’s tragedy of the commons. Though rules are in place, the paper on harvester compliance from 2010 deems them insufficient for proper enforcement. So the rules, while in place, are ineffective and perhaps do not mean much to many harvesters. Given the increase in ginseng poaching, conditions are not ideal for the establishment of trust among harvesters and ginseng growers. Add to this what the 2010 paper called “the secretive culture of harvest” and an atmosphere of anonymity and even suspicion results.
How can ginseng evade the tragedy of the commons then? New policies are on the table to require harvesters permits, which may help deter bad actors, and NGOs like Rural Action work to encourage ginseng cultivation by distributing seeds, holding workshops and releasing educational materials. Hopefully, establishment of more effective policies and promotion of good behaviors will help create sustainable use of ginseng and avoid Hardin’s tragedy.
Austin Miles is a senior studying biology. What do you know about ginseng poaching? Email him at am343011@ohio.edu.
