THE POTENT CATERPILLAR
From the Land of Medicinal Herbs
The land of medicinal herbs, home to more than 300 species of medicinal plants that grow in the wild, is now exporting one of the most coveted ingredients in traditional Asian medical practice – the Cordyceps Sinesis, or Yartsa Goenbub in the Bhutanese language.
Popular for its healing and aphrodisiac impact, the cordyceps is a fungus that grows naturally on the larva of a caterpillar and eventually takes over the body of the host. It is found only in China, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan.
“All I know is that it is an animal in summer and a plant in winter,” a yak herder from Lingzhi echoes the local belief. “It gives you strength if you eat it and it brings a lot of money if you sell it.”
Chinese medicine has used cordyceps for more than 1,500 years as an herb to treat circulatory, respiratory and immune problems, as well as sexual dysfunction.
“We are developing our own capsules mixing cordyceps with four other herbs,” says a pharmacist at the National Institute for Traditional Medicine (NITM) in Thimphu. “The capsules are used as a vitaliser for stamina and general health.”
Bhutan lifted the ban on the harvesting and sale of cordyceps in the summer of 2004. This was done as an experiment to export the herb as a sustainable cash crop for the nomadic yak herders and settlers in the kingdom’s northern mountain regions.
Cordyceps has always been poached in the alpine grasslands above 4,000 metres with some of the collectors coming from neighbouring Tibet. “On a clear day you could spot these rugged thieves, crouched low, combing the ridges inch by inch for the herb,” says one Bhutanese forester.
Researchers at the Yusipang Renewable Natural Resource Centre in Thimphu believe that the demand for Bhutanese cordyceps will grow in coming years as collection sites in Tibet are showing signs of being over-harvested.
Researchers estimate that Bhutanese cordyceps make up about 10 percent of the cordyceps sold in Tibet every year. In 2004, Bhutanese bidders paid a record of Nu. 87,000 (US$1,890) per kg. of cordyceps in open auction, more than double the floor price fixed by the agriculture ministry.
By Siok Sian Pek-Dorji