NTFPs & Medicinal Herbs (Jadibuti) of Nepal: A Directory

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are all the useful materials that forests yield other than timber: medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs), fungi, lichens, resins, bark, seeds, essential oils, wild foods and fibres. In Nepal these are popularly grouped under the Nepali word jadibuti (herb or medicinal plant), and they underpin traditional Ayurvedic, Amchi (Sowa-Rigpa) and Unani medicine as well as a fast-growing export sector.

Nepal's biological range, from the subtropical Tarai up to the trans-Himalayan alpine zone, gives it exceptional plant diversity. Estimates suggest the country holds the potential for roughly 2,000 MAP and NTFP species; more than 800 have been documented with recorded uses, and figures commonly cited by researchers and the Jadibuti Association of Nepal (JABAN) put the number of commercially traded species at around 100 to 165. In practice, about 20 species account for roughly 80 percent of the trade by volume and value.

The lead government body is the Department of Plant Resources (DPR), formerly the Department of Medicinal Plants, established in 1960 AD, under the Ministry of Forests and Environment. Collection, transport and trade are also overseen by the Department of Forests and Soil Conservation (DoFSC), while the Herbs Production and Processing Company Limited (HPPCL) and JABAN support processing and marketing. Nepal's Herbs and NTFP Development Policy, 2004 (Bikram Sambat 2061) prioritised 30 species for development and selected a smaller subset for focused research and commercial cultivation.

Yarsagumba (Ophiocordyceps sinensis, formerly Cordyceps sinensis), literally the summer-plant winter-insect, is Nepal's most famous and most valuable jadibuti. It is not a plant but a fungus that infects and mummifies the underground larvae of ghost moths (Thitarodes), producing a slender fruiting body that pushes above the soil. It grows only in alpine meadows roughly between 3,000 and 5,000 metres.

The main harvesting districts lie in the far-western and mid-western high mountains, especially Dolpa, along with Jumla, Mugu, Kalikot, Darchula, Bajhang and, in the east, Sankhuwasabha. The picking season runs from about April to June, just before and into the early monsoon, when tens of thousands of collectors camp in the high pastures. Government estimates of the legal annual harvest are commonly in the range of a few hundred kilograms, though real volumes are hard to measure.

Prized in Chinese and Tibetan medicine as a tonic, Yarsagumba commands extraordinary prices, frequently quoted in the millions of Nepali rupees per kilogram, making it, weight for weight, more valuable than gold. Most is exported, largely to China and via Hong Kong. Collection was effectively legalised in 2001, and it is now managed through royalties and permits, but over-harvesting, resource conflicts and the effects of a warming climate are serious sustainability concerns; the IUCN assessed the species as Vulnerable in 2020.

Lokta is the fibrous inner bark of high-elevation Daphne shrubs, mainly Daphne bholua and Daphne papyracea, which grow on Himalayan slopes roughly between 1,600 and 4,000 metres across many districts. Its long, strong fibres are cooked, beaten to pulp and hand-cast on frames to make lokta paper, Nepal's celebrated handmade paper, traditionally used for government records, religious texts, certificates and, today, premium stationery, gift wrap and craft products. Because the bark regenerates in a few years after careful cutting, harvesting can be sustainable when the plant is not uprooted.

Argeli (Edgeworthia gardneri), a related shrub of the mid-hills at roughly 1,500 to 3,000 metres, has become a notable cash crop in districts such as Sindhupalchok, Dolakha, Ilam, Taplejung, Baglung and Myagdi. Its bark yields exceptionally strong, flexible, long-fibred paper stock.

Argeli's most striking market is Japan, where its fibre substitutes for domestically scarce mitsumata (Edgeworthia chrysantha) in the manufacture of banknote paper. Nepali farmers now cultivate and process argeli bark for export, and it has been reported as a raw material used in Japanese yen production for years. This has turned a once-overlooked hedge shrub into a valuable export-linked rural industry, although most of the high-value processing profit remains in Japan.

Beyond Yarsagumba and the paper plants, a cluster of bitter tonics, aromatic roots and orchids make up the backbone of Nepal's jadibuti trade. Most are wild-harvested in the mid-hills and high mountains and sold, often only lightly processed, to buyers who move them to India and China. The list below gives local name, scientific name, typical growing elevation, and main uses and trade notes.

Several of these species are threatened by unsustainable collection, and their names recur in Nepal's conservation and export-control lists (see the regulation section below). Cultivation is being promoted for some, such as Chiraito, Timur and Sugandhawal, to relieve pressure on wild stocks.

Not all NTFPs are alpine herbs. In the Tarai and lower hills, resin tapping from chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) is an important source of rural employment; the crude oleoresin is distilled into turpentine and rosin used in paints, adhesives and industry. Sal (Shorea robusta) forests yield sal seed (for oil and fat), leaves for making plates (tapari) and bowls (duna), and other by-products, while the fragrant resin known as sal dhoop is used as incense.

Aromatic species feed a distinct essential-oil industry. Wintergreen (Gaultheria fragrantissima), lemongrass, palmarosa, citronella, French basil, Sugandhawal, Jatamansi and Timur are among the plants distilled into essential oils for export, supported by cooperatives and enterprises listed in directories from bodies such as ANSAB (Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources).

Other frequently traded NTFPs include Sugandhakokila (Cinnamomum glaucescens) berries, Chiuri (Diploknema butyracea) butter, Rittha (soapnut), Bojho (Acorus calamus), Majitho (Rubia manjith), lichens (jhyau) used as spice and dye, and Silajit. Together these diversify mountain incomes beyond the headline species.

Nepal's NTFP economy is overwhelmingly export-oriented, but it trades mostly in raw or semi-processed material, so much of the final value is captured abroad. India is the dominant destination for herbs such as Chiraito, Timur, Jatamansi oil and Sugandhawal, while China is the main market for high-value alpine products such as Yarsagumba and Satuwa. Onward re-export from India and China reaches global Ayurvedic, herbal-supplement and cosmetics industries.

The scale is significant if hard to pin down precisely. Studies have estimated total NTFP trade at the order of tens of millions of US dollars a year, and formal MAP exports have been reported rising from roughly USD 27 million in the mid-2000s to over USD 40 million by the mid-2010s. Actual flows are larger because much trade with India is informal and unrecorded. These figures should be treated as indicative rather than exact.

The typical value chain runs from local collectors and farmers, through village traders and district wholesalers, to exporters and processing enterprises. Collectors, often among the poorest mountain households, usually receive the smallest share. Policy efforts, industry groups such as JABAN, and cultivation and enterprise programmes aim to shift more processing and value addition, such as essential-oil distillation and finished herbal products, inside Nepal.

NTFP collection and trade in Nepal are governed by the Forests Act, 2019 (BS 2076) and earlier forest rules, plus species-specific notices published in the Nepal Gazette. To move raw material out of its district of origin, collectors and traders need release permits, certificates of origin, royalty payments and, for export, licences and phytosanitary certificates. International trade in listed species is additionally controlled through CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), to which Nepal is a party.

Nepal maintains graded restrictions. A small group of species carries a total ban on collection, use and export, including the orchid Panch Aunle (Dactylorhiza hatagirea), Kutki (Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora) and the bark of Okhar (Juglans regia, walnut) under Nepal Gazette notices from 2001. A separate group of around nine species, including Jatamansi (Nardostachys), Sugandhawal (Valeriana), Sarpagandha (Rauvolfia serpentina) and Sugandhakokila (Cinnamomum glaucescens), may not be exported in raw, unprocessed form, a rule meant to push domestic processing and value addition.

CITES-listed Himalayan species traded from Nepal include Nardostachys jatamansi, Dactylorhiza hatagirea, the Himalayan yew (Taxus wallichiana) and all wild orchids. Conservationists warn that over-harvesting, habitat loss and climate change threaten many high-value species, and initiatives such as the Jadibuti Declaration have called for a roadmap toward sustainable, community-based management. For collectors and traders, the practical takeaway is to confirm a species' current legal status with the DPR or DoFSC before harvesting or exporting, because lists are periodically updated.