A. Species
Scientific name: Inonotus obliquus
Common name(s): Chaga, Birch clinker, Kofukisaruno-koshikake, Sterile conk trunk rot
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status:
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Eastern Asian Russia
Country/Region: Russia / Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State
Name/Details of location: Khabarovsk and Primorsky
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2004
End Year:
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Type of use: Extractive
Practice of use: Gathering/Cutting/Collecting terrestrial plants and fungi or their products from the wild
Lethal or non-lethal: Non-Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: Only parts or products of the organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Medicine and hygiene
Motivation of use: Income generation from trade (individual/household/community) and Largescale commercial exploitation for trade
Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people and National external
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study - using projection models based on incidence of chaga on older birch trees over the forested area of this region.
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The author laments a lack of quantitative data, but estimates the total production of chaga clinkers over the forested part of this region. Birch trees are abundant, including those at an older stage of development that develop these cankers, and so chaga appears to be abundant and unthreatened.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Chaga is easily collected and processed and in high international demand as a herbal tea - also as a raw product for the pharmaceutical / health supplement industry. It has a value of around $15/kg to the harvester, and thus can be collected profitably. Over-exploitation is possible, motivated by price; however, higher harvests usually cause the price to fall, stifling the market. Regulations exist, supported by broader recommendations on sustainable harvest practice.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Chaga is ecological sustainable, economically profitable, and has health benefits, and so livelihoods based on this use are sustainable.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: chaga is a potent antioxidant, with genuine medicinal value, although it contains so much oxalate that toxicity is possible if over-consumed.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
Recommendations include using the author's calculation spreadsheet as a tool for discussions of sustainable harvesting, means of improving resource monitoring, changes to permit and harvest regulations, co-management of chaga and forest resources, inoculation trials, isolating and propagating superior strains of the fungus, testing concentrations of pharmacological ingredients in extracts from various parts of the fungus, means to retain more profits locally, marketing suggestions, educational activities, and English publications that should be translated into Russian. Also: • Reduce the time, expense, and effort needed to acquire harvest permits and export permissions. • Experiment with leasing exclusive rights to harvest discrete areas in exchange for cooperative monitoring • Emphasize incentives to facilitate cooperation among stakeholders such as harvesters, companies, foresters, scientists, and regulators • Conduct cooperative research and monitoring to build trust among stakeholders and mutual ownership of the process of resource management
Record source
Information about the record source: grey_lit
Date of publication/issue/production: 2004-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Date of record entry: 2022-12-23