Species Use Database

golden moss
Cibotium barometz

Used for Medicine and hygiene in Viet Nam

A. Species

Scientific name: Cibotium barometz

Common name(s): golden moss

Global IUCN Red List Threat Status:


B. Location of use

Geographic location(s):

  • Viet Nam

Country/Region:


C. Scale of assessment

Scale of assessment: National Level

Name/Details of location: mountainous provinces in North Viet Nam


D. Timescale of use

Start Year: 1996

End Year: 2007


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: Lethal

Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism

Purpose(s) of end use: Medicine and hygiene

Motivation of use: Basic subsistence, Income generation from trade (individual/household/community), Largescale commercial exploitation for trade and Traditional/Cultural/Spiritual

Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law and Some use is legal and some is illegal


F. Information about the Users

Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people, Non-local Internal, Non-local External, National / local government, National / local private sector and International private sector


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: CITES Non detriment findings

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: It is difficult to estimate the deposit of natural resources accurately because of the difficulty of field survey and the limitation of sampled populations in its vast distribution areas. The annual sustained yield should be estimated at about 400 – 500 tones making up 5% of the standing stocks. The export quota of 300 – 350 tones per year is reasonable within five years, from 2009.

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: CITES Non detriment findings

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: harvested for trade; The annual sustained yield should be estimated at about 400 – 500 tones making up 5% of the standing stocks. The export quota of 300 – 350 tones per year is reasonable within five years, from 2009.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: No, sustainability not determined

Details of assessment carried out: CITES Non detriment findings

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: important income generation for otherwise very poor mountainous regions, but vulnerable to exploitation by large-scale trade/ industry/ external parties

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: CITES Non detriment findings

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: apparent medicinal properties

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

To ensure the long-term survival of wild populations and their associated habitats, management plans for collection should provide a framework for setting sustainable 9 harvest levels and describe appropriate collection practices that are suitable for Cibotium barometz through following actions: i) Only the populations outside nature reserves can be collected under the permission and strict control of local governments and Provincial Forestry Branch. In addition, it should be focus on collecting in area of new reservoir belonging to Son La and Dien Bien provinces. ii) Exportation of Cibotium barometz should be limited by strict quota at 300 – 350 tones per year within 5 years from 2009 for sustainable use; iii) Develop guidelines on good collection practice for Cibotium barometz. The guidelines should be concerned to:  Appropriate seasons or time period for collection (to ensure the best possible quality of materials).  Standards of plants for collection: only plant of which rhizome weight is over 1,5 kg should be collected.  Collection levels and collection practices to encourage the regeneration of source medicinal plant materials (Ex: leaving the nurslings, small plants and spore-bearing plants for reproduction and regeneration of maintaining their populations).  Minimum frequency of collection: Duration time for the next collecting should be 10 years. In future, export of final products rather than raw materials should be encouraged. It is hoped that researches on propagation through spore will be carried out for artificial cultivation and techniques for cultivating this plant in suitable areas. It will be help to reduce the pressure on wild resources of this much exploited species.


Record source

Information about the record source: formal_data_stats

Date of publication/issue/production: 2008-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Source Reference(s):

Tap et al. 2008. Non-detriment finding for Cibotium barometz in Viet Nam

Date of record entry: 2023-09-26