Essential Oils from the Alpine Areas of the Himalayas

by Appropriate Technology International

Project Overview

The Humla region of northwestern Nepal lies between two distinct botanical regions, the Western and Eastern Himalayas. This location, and the area's relative isolation, create a region of high floral diversity, including many valuable medicinal and aromatic or essential oil bearing plants. This complex ecosystem is threatened by overharvesting of these plants caused by increasing national and international demand for products from them, over grazing, and fuel wood and fodder collection.

To counter these threats, project partners and local people have established an enterprise based on producing essential oils such as jatamansi which is used by perfume and cosmetic manufacturers. Local people harvest the jatamansi root from nearby alpine meadows using sustainable techniques, process it into oil on-site, and operate and maintain the processing equipment. By selling a processed product, enterprise participants are receiving more money than they did by selling plants in raw, bulk form. The project partners are hoping this additional income will reduce the amount of raw plants local people sell to outside traders and provide incentives to maintain the supply of plants in the future. In addition, partners will be working with villagers so that they gain more control over the resources that they collect from government-owned lands.

This project has the potential to broaden the Humla District Forest Office's acceptance of community-based management of local natural resources. Although practiced in many parts of Nepal, this approach to forestry management had not yet been implemented in Humla prior to the start of the project. As a result of project efforts to develop two community forests, the Forest Office has, however, moved these two and twelve others through the designation system. The project also places a strong emphasis on working with women's groups, and on establishing mechanisms to allow communities to keep larger portions of the taxes levied on non-timber forest products.

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