A lesson in conservation: wild ginseng, which often grows on parkland, is under pressure due to high demand from overseas, but an expert says “if the Feds try to protect [it] by banning its sale, the black market will swallow the remainder up.” [Clint Rainey, New York mag]
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If it is being harvested from parkland, then it is a classic tragedy of the commons, so whether or not the feds ban its sale, it is probably doomed.
It grows on private land as well, but the wild ginseng is so valuable that it gets poached off private land too.
What I don’t get is given how valuable the NA wild ginseng is why hasn’t anyone tried actively cultivating it yet?