The post-COVID landscape: A chance to end the use of threatened wild animals in traditional Chinese medicine?

Aron White

The Ecological Citizen Vol 4 No 2 2021: 153–8

Share via browser: | |

ACCESS PDF OF ARTICLE

First published: 6 May 2021 | PERMANENT URL | DOWNLOAD CITATION IN RIS FORMAT

Abstract

Triggered by the emergence of COVID-19, public and political attention to the health and biodiversity risks of commercial trade in wild animals have led to substantive policy changes in China relating to the breeding and trade of wild animals as food. However, to date, new restrictions do not impact upon the use of wild animals in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), despite the fact that demand for species currently used legally in TCM, such as pangolins, leopards, saiga and bears, continues to drive illegal trade and threaten wild populations. The cultural, political and institutional contexts in which TCM trade and consumption occur pose complex challenges to reducing this demand. Nonetheless, discussion of wildlife trade policy has seen a wide range of stakeholders in China, including lawmakers, academics, NGOs and medical experts, call for further policy amendments to end the use of threatened wild animal species in TCM. Commentators and campaigners globally should recognize this heterogeneity of opinion and work to support these efforts, which are crucial for establishing conditions in which demand for threatened species can be reduced.

Keywords

Traditional Chinese medicine