Legal protection: Panax quinquefolius is now recognised as a species of special concern and is
listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Exports of both wild and cultivated ginseng from the US require government approval, obtained
through the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
At state-level within the US, harvesters are generally required to:
• possess harvesting permits;
• have verbal or written permission to obtain ginseng from land which they do not own;
• only harvest during certain periods (in most cases late August to October);
• only harvest plants that are fully-grown and have gone to seed; and
• plant the seeds from the plants that have been harvested in order to try and maintain the
populations.
State officials must weigh, inspect and certify the origin of all wild ginseng roots before they can
be legally sold out-of-state. Ginseng dealers are subject to additional licences (Pierce 2002).The
size of the illegal trade is believed to be substantial, with 350 violations recorded between 1989
and 1995 and 10,515 illegally harvested ginseng roots seized between 1991 and 1999 in the Great
Mountain National Park alone (Pierce 2002).
In the summer of 1998, a man was found guilty of buying fresh ginseng root out of the harvesting
season. He was fined $900 and sentenced to 90 days in prison. Penalties like these can go some
way towards deterring illegal diggers and dealers. However, it is not difficult to harvest the plant
illegally, and poaching is likely to remain a serious threat.
Conservation assessment: East Asia is the largest and oldest market for American ginseng.
Consumers in Asia prefer wild-collected roots. Increased prices have encouraged over-harvesting.
Smaller and smaller roots are being collected. Forest conversion is adversely affecting the
availability of suitable habitat for ginseng, which requires deep shade. Ginseng is now scarce over
much of its natural range. Collection has recently been suspended in several state and federal
forests of the US due to concerns over excessive harvesting and declining populations. To curb
illegal harvest, the National Park Service has resorted to colouring the roots of plants growing on
its land, which makes them unacceptable to Asian consumers and thus discourages illegal
harvesting (Pierce 2002).
