Abstract
The volume, value and distribution of the nontimber forest product (NTFP) trade in the United States are largely unknown. This is due to the lack of systematic, periodic and comprehensive market tracking programs. Trade measurement and mapping would allow market actors and stakeholders to improve market conditions, manage NTFP resources, and increase the sustainable production of raw material. This is especially true in the heavily forested and mountainous regions of the eastern United States. This study hypothesized that the tendency to purchase medicinal NTFPs in this region can be predicted using socioeconomic and environmental variables associated with habitat and trade, and those same variables can be used to build more robust estimates of trade volume. American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) dealers were surveyed (n = 700), because by law they must acquire a license to legally trade in this species, and therefore report a business address. They also record purchase data. Similar data are not reported for other medicinal species sold to the same buyers, known colloquially as ‘off-roots’. Ginseng buyers were queried about trade activity in eleven commonly-harvested and previously untracked medicinal NTFP species in 15 states. Multinomial logistic regression comprised of socioeconomic and environmental predictors tied to business location was used to determine the probability that a respondent purchased off-roots. Significant predictors included location in a particular subregion, population and percentage of employment in related industries. These variables were used in a two-step cluster analysis to group respondents and nonrespondents. Modeled probabilities for off-root purchasing among respondents in each cluster were used to impute average off-root volumes for a proportion of nonrespondents in the same cluster. Respondent observations and nonrespondent estimations were summed and used to map off-root trade volume and value. Model functionality and estimates of the total volume, value and spatial distribution are discussed. The total value of the species surveyed to harvesters was 4.3 million USD. We also find that 77 percent of the trade value and 73 percent of the trade volume were represented by two species: black cohosh (Actaea racemosa L.) and goldenseal (Hydrastis canqdensis L.)
Highlights
Nontimber forest products (NTFPs) are defined by Chamberlain et al as the plants, parts of plants, fungi and other biological material harvested from within and on the edges of natural, manipulated, or disturbed forests [1].Forests 2020, 11, 74; doi:10.3390/f11010074 www.mdpi.com/journal/forestsMedicinal plants and fungi have a long history of commerce in the diverse hardwood forests of the eastern United States (US)
We find that 77 percent of the trade value and 73 percent of the trade volume were represented by two species: black cohosh (Actaea racemosa L.) and goldenseal (Hydrastis canqdensis L.)
Surveys were mailed to 700 valid business addresses for primary buyers who purchased a license from their state to legally trade in ginseng in 2014 and/or 2015
Summary
Medicinal plants and fungi have a long history of commerce in the diverse hardwood forests of the eastern United States (US). They are sold into local, regional and global markets, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in retail value [2,3]. Despite longstanding interest and trade in NTFPs, there is a dearth of consistent, systematic data on the volume, value and distribution of market activity. This lack of data hamstrings efforts to assess the sustainability of harvests or quantify existing supply [7]. Lack of comprehensive projections and regional trade mapping hinders efforts to certify or support cultivation and sustainable harvesting [7]
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