Hidden Trade in Wild Plants Threatens Ecosystems Across Northeast India

Plant Blindness in Wildlife Trade

While illegal wildlife trade usually brings to mind animals like elephants and parrots, a major panel discussion at the 2024 Indian Wildlife Ecology Conference revealed that plant trade remains largely ignored. Over twenty percent of all plant species assessed by the IUCN Red List face extinction, a threat level comparable to mammals. Researchers point out that the large-scale extraction of vulnerable medicinal plants goes on with very little oversight.

The Case of Paris polyphylla

One heavily targeted plant is Paris polyphylla, a perennial herb valued for its medicinal properties and listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. Large-scale collection of this herb began around 2015 and peaked around 2020 when prices doubled. Local collectors in Northeast India gather the rhizomes on steep slopes and hand them over to middlemen. These middlemen then smuggle the contraband across the porous India-Myanmar border using lightweight two-wheelers known as Burma Bikes, or move networks across state borders in Arunachal Pradesh.

Risks and Underground Economy

The underground trade brings severe risks, including physical assaults, murders, and theft funded by loans from moneylenders. Beyond this single herb, middlemen also target other natural resources like orchids, mushrooms, stink bugs, and high-value wildlife parts such as bear bile and pangolin scales. Some villages in Nagaland have stepped up by creating local rules to curb this commercial harvesting.

Context

Wild plant trafficking often thrives in remote regions where local communities face limited alternative sources of income. Without legal cultivation options and stronger grassroots monitoring, high external demand continues to drive over-harvesting of slow-growing species.