Last Updated on June 16, 2014
The Yarsagumba Effect examines the ecology of medicinal plant markets, exposing issues of biopiracy, indigenous knowledge exploitation and overharvesting around the world.
From the highlands of Kazakhstan to the Amazon Basin, valuable medicinal plants and fungus are routinely cultivated, harvested and shipped out to demanding markets, researchers and pharmaceutical companies. What are the environmental impacts of this demand? Are local communities being exploited? Are exporters lying about the medicinal properties of plants to make more money? Is traditional knowledge being destroyed in the process?
Shae Frydenlund, a 2010 Watson Fellow, has spent the last year uncovering answers to these and other questions about the medicinal plant trade.
Travelling to Tibet, China, Russia, Tanzania, Ecuador, Peru, and Albania, Frydenlund is investigating what many Indigenous have come to know first hand, whether it’s so-called ‘discovery’ and patent of a medicine plants in Tanzania, the exploitation of Maca in Peru, or the overharvesting of Yarsagumba, a fungus that inspired the title of Frydenlund’s documentary, The Yarsagumba Effect.
Found in Nepal and Occupied Tibet, “Yarsagumba is a fungus prized by South Asians and is valued at $1000 per kilo.,” says Frydenlund, in a brief introduction on her website. Overharvesting of Yarsagumba, which is sometimes referred to as ‘Himalayan Viagra’ or ‘Himalayan Gold’, has brought the fungus to the edge of extinction.
In addition to exploring industry harms and, she says, the “rich and complex ecologies of medicinal plant markets” , Frydenlund will also take the time to promote sustainability and conservation, something that companies clearly need to do themselves… putting reason and good faith before abject greed.
Watch this video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZfC9Shjj9I
For updates on the progress of this documentary, keep an eye on http://sfrydenlund.us/wordpress/
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
But this work is increasingly difficult to sustain.
We refuse to lock our reporting behind a paywall. We don’t sell access through subscriptions.
And we don’t answer to advertisers. IC Magazine survives solely because readers like you choose to
support independent Indigenous journalism.
Please donate today if you can. Every contribution helps us to continue this crucial work.
Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
