Contribution of Forestry to Poverty Alleviation - APFNet

Chirata is an important medicinal plant used to combat malaria and the roots containing concentrated
chiratin are used for treating common cold, flu and mosquito-borne illnesses. It is a commercially
important plant for rural communities of Singkhar Lauri in southeastern Bhutan. The plants, after
maturing, are uprooted, bundled, and sold to the National Institute of Traditional Medicine (NITM)
and exported across the Indian border for the manufacture of pharmaceutical medicines. During 1992-
93 and 1993-94, Singkhar Lauri farmers collected about 18 tonnes and 20 tonnes of chirata worth
Nu 504,000 (US$ 18,000) and Nu 560,000 (US$ 20,000), respectively. According to Pradhan et. al.
(1998), the harvest, collection, and sale of chirata contributed the bulk (42%) of the gross household
incomes of Singkhar Lauri farmers.2 Postharvest practices such as improving processing, packaging,
and marketing need to be further explored.
According to Namgay et. al. (2007), incense plants contributed 14% of the total income of the Layaps,
the members of the Laya village in Gasa district. Of the 14 species of incense plants found in Laya,
five common species contribute 94% of the proceeds from the incense products. Most of these incense
products are sold in urban centers, e.g., Thimphu. NWFPs, such as medicinal plants, mushroom
and bamboo, as well as handicrafts, have a growing market worldwide as such niched products are
increasingly getting scarce. There is a growing demand for ecological, nature-based products offering
attractive prices, mainly from developed economies. Bhutan’s rich forests provide a wide range of these
NWFPs with potential benefits to both conservation and development.
Certified organic lemongrass oil is used in perfumes, soaps, and cosmetics and for pharmaceutical
preparations in developed nations (FAO 1996). Bio-Bhutan, a private enterprise, exports certified
organic oil to Asia, Europe, and the USA with prices ranging from US$ 20-23 per kg of oil (Yangzom
et. al. 2008).
Among the wild mushrooms found in the forests of Bhutan, the Matsutake mushroom is one of the
commercially important ones, contributing to cash income generation for farmers during the growing
season. According to Dhital (2009), between 2000 and 2005, a total of 9,339 kg of Matsutake mushrooms
was collected with a total value of Nu 3.92 million (from both the market value of Nu 3.73 million and
royalty of Nu 0.19 million).
Bio-energy
The main sources of energy supply for rural Bhutanese households for cooking and heating are fuel
wood, wood chips, briquette and, occasionally, animal dung. Biomass energy is predominant, having
the largest share (42%) of the overall energy supply matrix, followed by electricity from hydropower
plants (DoE 2008). Biomass in the Bhutanese context includes wood, wood waste, peat, wood briquette,
agriculture waste, and straw. Fuelwood forms the primary energy source for cooking, heating, and
lighting for 69% of the rural population while fuelwood is used for room heating among the urban
population, especially during winter. The rural poor are allowed to collect fuelwood from government
forests for household use. Unlike the rural areas in Nepal and India, rural farmers in Bhutan do not sell
firewood. Bhutan consumed about 725,000 tonnes of fuelwood in 2005, which accounted for 57.7% of
the overall energy supply matrix. Bhutan has one of the highest per capita biomass energy consumption
in the world (DoE 2008). This situation, however, is gradually changing with the emergence of
hydropower-generated electricity and the policy of “electricity for all” by 2020 and fuelwood substitutes
such as fuel for cooking and heating appliances.
Until recently, vast volumes of sawdust generated from the production of sawn logs by mills were
disposed of as wastes. The commissioning of briquette machineries by a government-owned company
efficiently converted sawdust as a firewood substitute for heating urban homes. The briquette machineries
are located in urban centers (namely, Thimphu and Paro) with production capacity of 750 kg and 250 kg
per hour, respectively. Briquettes are packed in gunny bags bearing the slogan, “Save the forest, Keep
2 Aside from chirata, the other sources of household cash income were daily wage labor (24.7%), livestock
raising (19.8%), chili (8%), star anise (4.5%) and others.
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