Understanding Traditional Chinese Medicine to strengthen conservation outcomes

Abstract

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China's Legalization of Domestic Rhino Horn Trade: Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner Perspectives and the Likelihood of Prescription

“…The rise in poaching is attributed to growing wealth and demand in Asia, particularly China and Vietnam, where rhino horn is used in cultural, social and medicinal settings (Di Minin et al, 2015). Rhino horn is used as an ingredient in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) pharmacotherapy (herbal decoctions for treating illness or promote health by restoring holistic balance), mainly to dispel heat, detoxify and cool the blood, and treat febrile diseases (Cheung et al, 2018a(Cheung et al, , 2020a. It is thought to impart potent "cold" properties, most appropriately used against heat that has been trapped deep within the body (But et al, 1990).…”

Using theory and evidence to design behaviour change interventions for reducing unsustainable wildlife consumption

“…This internal expectation is often the reason given by an individual when asked why they use saiga horn; which explains why ‘It works’ was the most commonly reported reason for using saiga horn (Doughty et al., 2019), and why this answer is deceptively multifaceted. As shown in other literature around TCM, its users do not necessarily need to integrate ‘biomedical evidence’ into their internal processing in order to expect TCM to be effective, but rather their internal expectations are likely to be shaped by other, often social or historical, factors (Cheung et al., 2020). In addition, the effectiveness of a medicinal treatment can also be conceptually extended to include not only its physical effects but also the impacts it has on an individual's social placement (c.f.…”

“…This could be particularly true for reducing purchases of products with ingrained usage among a population (e.g. medicines associated with longstanding traditions (Cheung et al., 2020)). It is therefore important to be able to shift consumer behaviour through a number of means (Michie et al., 2011).…”

Rhino horn use by consumers of traditional Chinese medicine in China

“…Records of the use of rhino horn as a medicinal ingredient in China date back millennia (Liu, Wang, Duan, Guo, & Tang, 2010). Such use has continued into the modern era (But, Lung, & Tam, 1990), in which traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has experienced a revival through its integration into the healthcare system of the People's Republic of China for reasons that are both functional and politically motivated (Cheung et al, 2020; Croizier, 1965; Gross, 2018). Rhino horn is known in TCM as an ingredient that imparts potent “cool” or “cold” properties (But et al, 1990), and practitioners in China see it as a valuable treatment option for certain severe or critical conditions.…”

“…To better understand the demand side of the rhino horn trade, several peer‐reviewed studies in recent years have focused on rhino horn use by traditional medicine consumers in Vietnam ( n.b . as with many forms of traditional medicine in Asia, traditional Vietnamese medicine shares common origins with TCM, see Cheung et al, 2020), where end‐users tend to be older, educated, wealthy men (Dang & Nielsen, 2018; Hanley, Sheremet, Bozzola, & MacMillan, 2018; Truong, Dang, & Hall, 2016). However, similar research on Chinese consumers has yet to be conducted, and whether similar patterns hold true in China remains unknown.…”