Juna Budha, 65, and her two children, aged eight and eleven were camped on the 5,100 meter Majban pass in Nepal’s remote Bajhang district. It was May, and the monsoon hadn’t arrived yet. It took the family four days to reach this isolated pass, and Budha was hopeful that they would find enough of the valuable yarsagumba plant to make ends meet for the year. Early in the morning on the fifth day of their journey, they set out and scoured the high pastures on their hands and knees, examining each and every blade of grass on the wide hillside.   

It wasn’t their year. After eight straight days of searching, they had yet to find a single plant. To make matters worse, Budha was haunted by memories of her daughter Rekha, who died three years before while crossing a swollen stream on the same path they had just traversed. 

The impacts of climate change are felt more acutely in Nepal’s remote mountain villages than almost anywhere else on Earth. For every degree in global temperatures rise, average temperatures in Nepal will grow exponentially. This has a profound impact on the fragile mountain ecosystems of the Himalayas, and threatens to leave countless families like Buda’s without few options for survival. 

For as long as anyone can remember, the streams leading up  to the Majban pass would remain frozen and, thus, safe to traverse, until at least mid-July - well after the yasargumba harvest season ended. In recent years, these same streams are flooding from early snowmelt in mid-March, forcing local travelers to risk their lives in dangerous crossings. 

“Previously, snow melting would start only after the yarsagumba harvesting season. Yarsagumba collectors would have returned home by then. Now, floods are sweeping people away in May.” said herder, Kamman Bohara, 69. He added “It seems that the Earth might collapse soon,” 

The stream that swept away Budha’s daughter Rekha has taken seven lives over the past five years. Over the past decade, over 50 people have died while crossing streams in the Saipal area of Bajhang alone. Reports indicated that in neighboring communities, 67 people died during the same time period. 

Unfortunately for herders like Budha, when they return home, the problem continues. The rapid snowmelt has led to a severe decrease in the water table, and the region is facing an acute water crisis. 

A study conducted by Rural Water Resource Management Project, a Bajhang-based non-governmental organization, shows that over the past seven years, a staggering 40 percent of local water sources had run dry. 

Rampant Deforestation 

Every year, in Bajhang district alone, approximately 48,000 people travel into high-altitude pastures in search of a tiny fortune harvesting the mysterious herb yasargumbu - a parasitic fungus with powerful medicinal properties, and is claimed to be the most expensive biological product by weight on Earth. “[In the past] a few people from neighboring villages used to come to collect the herb here. Now, you encounter people from all 77 districts,” said Bir Bahadur Jethara, a local from the village of Surma.

The harvesters are not practitioners of low-impact travel, and have an outsized impact upon the fragile alpine environments. Over the three months that they typically stay for the harvest season, they cook exclusively with firewood - which has been devastating for local forests. “Our forests have been destroyed completely in a single yarsagumba harvesting season,” said local harvester, Runche Bohora.

A study conducted by ICIMOD shows that each makeshift shelter set up in the wild uses, on average, 12 kg of firewood daily.  About 15,000 tents are set up in the mountains of Bajhang during a yarsagumba collection season. 

Following these numbers, yarsagumba collectors consume around 16 million kgs of firewood during their three month stay in the high passes.  Since mountain trees are generally small it is estimated that yarsagumba pickers destroy 648,000 trees in a single yarsa harvesting season. 

Lost Livelihoods 

Looking over records from the Division Forest Office, it is easy to see that the amount of herbs harvested across mountain regions is declining rapidly. Many valuable crops are on the brink of extinction. In 2012, Bajhang exported 8,600 kg of the valuable herb, satuwa. In 2018, this number had dropped to a meager 1,530 kg. 

Similarly, about 4,000 kg of ban lasun, (valued at approximately 40 million NPR) was exported in 2016. Only 900 kgs were exported in 2018.  The government has now banned the export of this endangered herb.  

In 2008, the Forest Office records showed 30 different types of wild herbs exported from Bajhang. This year, there were only eight. The collection of yarsagumba has declined by 30 percent. 

High Altitude Garbage Dumps

In addition to over-harvesting and deforestation, the masses of herb collectors have left a mess in their wake. Plastic food wrappers, beer cans, and beer bottles cover the once-pristine trails and landscapes. 

A study carried out by the ICIMOD in the areas of Saipal Rural Municipality, another popular yarsagumba harvesting area, shows that more than 4 million kilograms of garbage was piled up in this area alone. Following these numbers, it’s likely that over 15 million tons of solid waste are strewn across the district. This has direct consequences on public health for humans and animals alike, as well as a profound deterrent effect on any prospective tourism activities.

Lack of Regulation

Despite these looming crisis, local governments have shown little interest in doing anything to stop or reduce the damage to the environment. The Saipal Rural Municipality has drafted a set of guidelines for yarsagumba harvesters, but this has yet to be implemented.  Chairperson Rajendra Dhami tells us: 

“The public wants infrastructure above all else. Climate change and the environment just isn’t a priority.” 

Nar Bahadur Bohara, the chairman of Surma Rural Municipality, which is the second-most productive yarsagumba harvesting area after Saipal, tells us the situation in his area is already out of control. “We just can’t stop deforestation, premature collection of herbs, forest fires and wildlife poaching.” 

In the coming election year, elected representatives don’t want to risk losing voters by regulating human activities in the highlands. For many villagers this has become the only reliable source of income for many villagers. 

In Bungal Rural Municipality, there have been some local efforts to protect the ecosystem. Local chairman Dhan Bahadur Bista, tells us “While forest conservation is our responsibility in theory, this actually doesn’t fall under our jurisdiction legally.” He continues, “We banned the collection of endangered herbs here, but the traders then just obtained collection permits from the Division Forest Office and continued to do as they pleased.” 

This article was produced in collaboration with the Center for Investigative Journalism Nepal. This article was translated from the original Nepali and edited for clarity and length.