June 6, 2002

Kathmandu: Thousands of people are making a beeline in Dolpo to collect yarchagumba, the herb known for its aphrodisiac and other medicinal properties, and most of them illegally.

“Thousands of Dolpo-dwellers, from other districts and even from Tibet have gathered in Dolpo, and this mad rush for the herb has led to the illegal collection, transportation and selling of yarchagumba,” said District Forest Officer Biswonath Baitha. People of all ages from school children to youths to old ones are involved in the collection.

A teacher at the local Araniko Lower Secondary School said this has hampered in running the classes because most of the students are accompanying their parents and elders in looking for the herb.

Yarchagumba, which means (herb of life), is actually a lichen which grows on the body of a larva, is found on the high hills of Dolpo and this is collected during the spring and early summer when the snow melt and lichens sprout out on the hills. Yarchagumba is found at 14,000 feet and above.

The rush has increased after the government lifted the ban and on the collection of yarchagumba in January 2001 hoping to collect millions in revenue. The government fixed a royalty of Rs. 20,000 per kilo.

But Baitha said the revenue collected is far less than the amount that is collected.

He said more than Rs. 100 million worth of yarchagumba was estimated to have been collected last year and taken out illegally. This year the collection will be not less than that, official at the District Forest Office said. “Because of the security reasons, we are forced to remain mute spectators,” he said.

Baitha said many of the collectors are unlicensed and in Patans each piece of yarchagumba are being sold at Rs. 20 – 23.

According to regulation, only licensed ones are allowed to collect and the processed yarchagumba are allowed to be exported from the country. But there is no processing centre in the country.

Traders say when they are not allowed to export unprocessed yarchagumba what is the use of going through the legal process of obtaining license for collecting them. Majority of the yarchagumba are taken to the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and to other countries through India, they say.