Harnessing the Potential of Medicinal, Aromatic and Non-timber Forest Products for Improving the Livelihoods of Pastoralists and Farmers in Himalayan Mountains

Abstract

Medicinal, aromatic, wild food and other health and wellness-related natural plant resources found in Himalayan highlands include rare, endangered and threatened plant species and non-timber wild products. These are commonly described as NTFPs and MAPs. Sustainable wild harvesting and primary processing of these herbs for addressing poverty of poor pastoralists, farmers and local traders is a major challenge. Medicinal plants not only play a pivotal role in providing primary healthcare for poor people in mountain areas; increasingly, these niche products are being gathered, processed and sold in national and international markets for higher cash income. Prominent examples of high-value but threatened medicinal plants that are commonly used in the Ayurvedic and Tibetan systems of traditional medicine (Sowa Rigpa) are as follows: Ophiocordyceps sinensis, Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora, Picrorhiza kurroa, Nardostachys grandiflora, Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Podophyllum hexandrum, Aconitum spp., etc. Experience gathered to date suggests that technical, socioeconomic, institutional and policy inputs and instruments are required to develop niche and high-volume production in pastoral systems. This chapter analyses and recommends the following actions in enhancing future scope: (a) raising awareness through different formal and informal education means, (b) skill development in sustainable harvesting as well as grazing management, (c) production of organic and sustainably managed products, (d) integration of agricultural and pastoral livelihoods with off-farm activities through value chain development of major niche products that have high-value capturing potential, (e) improvement of degraded pasture and farmlands to enhance productivity of niche products and services, (f) conservation through sustainable use-oriented policy and legal reforms to implement integrated strategies of linking conservation of wild fauna and flora with sustainable pastoral production systems and (g) expansion of ecologically sensitive low-input high-return tourism, using pastoralists to provide services, particularly through their indigenous knowledge and improved local production practices. These measures are expected to help Himalayan countries to achieve several SDGs especially goal nos.1 and 2.