Nepal Now / My stories / Archive 2020
Yartsagunbu – དབྱར་རྩ་དགུན་བུ། Summer Grass, Winter Worm
Published· My stories
A human inhales the spores of a fungus which slowly takes invades their body. If they survive the coming decades as the fungus causes brain and physical damage, fungal projections eventually kill them and release spores into the environment… infecting the next generation.
Luckily this is the description of a computer game called The Last of Us, which is based on the life of Cordyceps Sinesis (for a cool BBC film of cordyceps affecting different insects – check this link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8&feature=youtu.be)
Though only a recent fad to in the west; sold as immunity boosting medical fungi or ‘adaptogens’ to help people cope with stress (you can have it in your whisky, add powered fungus to your morning smoothie, or rub it on your face – oh, yes, on your face); references to ghost moth caterpillar fungus are found in both ancient Indian Ayurvedic texts as well traditional Chinese and Tibetan medical sources.
As the story goes, Yartsagunbu was discovered by yak herders in the Himalayas searching for the cause of improved vitality and increased milk output of their animals. Due to its rarity (only found at high altitudes) and perceived efficacy, it was extremely valuable to ancient medics, though not written about by westerners until the eighteenth century when a Jesuit missionary visited the Chinese court.
In fact Lloyd Brothers of Cincinnati, Ohio first marketed cordyceps in the US in the early nineteenth century for the Chinese-American community. Attempts at artificial cultivation of different cordyceps species were not successful until the late 1970’s and by the mid 1980’s, the majority of world’s cordyceps species are artificially grown.
In the 1990’s, after a Chinese national track coach mentioned that the victorious team had been taking cordyceps, it was declared a banned substance in sport!
The increasing demand and the scarcity of wild cordyceps led to spiralling prices, and the quality of cultivated cordyceps can vary greatly. Furthermore, given that most cultivated cordyceps is sold as powders, adulterated and fake products are also sold under the label ‘cordyceps’, all contributing further to demand for the “real thing” – a caterpillar with a ‘horn’ growing out of its head, though cordyceps sinensis is just one of hundreds of cordyceps species.
Already affected by loss of trade following the closure of the border with Tibet and the resulting decline in income from herding, caterpillar fungus become a major source of income for Nepal’s mountain communities including Dolpo, Manang, Myagdi, Mustang and Gorkha. According to research in 2019 it accounted for over 70% of annual income. The seasonal search which takes starts in spring, when snows have receded making finding the tiny sprouting fungus slightly easier. It has also sometimes led to inter and intra-communal violence in some communities, and environmental degradation, since collectors need fuel and water, and leave human waste and garbage.
Although its collection was initially banned by the Nepal Government, sales directly over the border to China continued. As a result, the government relented in 2001 and began collecting taxes on its trade. However control over who can enter and collect varies from place to place and requiring collectors to pay for permit, often at different rates for locals and outsiders. Since the permits are expensive, and this is a once a year opportunity to make an income, newcomers are viewed with suspicion.
Ghost moth caterpillars live between 3500 and 5000 m above sea level. Inhaling or getting covered in spores leads to their infection by the fungus, but the horn doesn’t grow out of the caterpillar until after it dies, when the fungus uses the nutrients from the host body. Collecting the caterpillars before the fungus releases spores, interrupts the cycle.
The impacts of climate change and the widespread massive collection in this vulnerable environment are unknown but many mountain people already recognise that the harvest is becoming more difficult. IUCN reports that “analysis of harvesters’ perceptions of resource abundance and sustainability in Nepal shows that virtually all harvesters (95.1%) believe the availability of this fungus to be declining in pastures, and 67% consider current harvesting practices to be unsustainable”.
The end of the wild cordyceps industry has been reported annually since 2014, yet collectors don’t want to miss out while others are benefiting. There are also many health risks to those involved in the trade. Altitude sickness, as well as exposure, poor diet, and injury as well as violence from other collectors, or even brokers all add to the risks.
This April the government again declared a ban due to COVID, but by June people had lost patience and the threat of monsoon and no income for the year loomed. In Dolpo they started collecting while neighbouring Mugu threatened fines of NPR 10,000 on anyone caught collecting.
But at the beginning of July Cordyceps Sinensis was listed as ‘vulnerable’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, noting that “the conservation status of the species is deteriorating due to its strict host-specificity on moth insects, and confined geographical distribution, and over exploitation by humans in recent decades. The price of natural products of [cordyceps] sinensis has increased sharply in recent years and is now sold at the price of gold or higher.”
So what is the future for yartsagunbu collectors? It looks bleak, with the impact of COVID on tourism adding to their woes. Although the IUCN listing was reported by some national papers, there is no legislation on collection or protection of either the species or its environment. Fortunately yartsagunbu hasn’t been touted for any anti-coronavirus properties, and so far the fungus hasn’t spread to humans.
Traditional uses of cordyceps in Dolpo, Nepal from 2006 https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/on/article/view/502
Powdered cordyceps as a smoothie additive https://shop.goop.com/shop/products/cordyceps?country=USA
Yarasagumba anti aging cream! https://www.oldpinch.com/yarsagumba-anti-ageing-whitening-dark-spots.html
Recently developed line of Yartsagunbu infused whisky from Nepal https://yarchagumba.com/
On changes in economic activities of Dolpo, Bauer 2014 -High Frontiers: Dolpo Revisited: An essay in honour of Wim van Spengen (1949-2013) https://www.jstor.org/stable/43741561?seq=1
Koirala et al 2017, Health Problems in the Himlayan Gold Rush, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1080603217301114
2018 film Himalayan Gold Rush https://www.docubay.com/himalayan-gold-rush
The demise of caterpillar fungus in the Himalayan region due to climate change and overharvesting – Hopping et al, 2018, https://www.pnas.org/content/115/45/11489
Reporting on this year’s ban due to COVID
https://theannapurnaexpress.com/news/prohibition-on-picking-himalayan-viagra-brings-hardships-2623