Rapid Vulnerability Assessment ofYartsa Gunbu(Ophiocordyceps sinensis[Berk.] G.H. Sung et al) in Pithoragarh District, Uttarakhand State, India

Abstract

Any resource of high value and relevance to rural livelihoods is at risk of overexploitation. The anthropogenic pressure on the caterpillar fungus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Berk.) G.H. Sung, J.M. Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora 2007, commonly referred to as yartsa gunbu, is intense, especially given the absence of traditional sustainable collection techniques. Stable harvests are the result of 2 factors: more people searching more intensely and extensively and the ongoing discovery of new areas for harvest. Increasing international demand and prices (presently around US$ 20,000 per kg) have resulted not just in overexploitation but also in the degradation of the fungus’s habitat, thus endangering its future viability. This article reports on a rapid vulnerability assessment involving 2511 harvesters in 9 broad study sites and 110 villages in the Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand state, India, in the central Himalaya, and recommends ways to lessen the pressure on this valuable species.