Illegal harvesting and livestock grazing threaten the endangered orchid Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. Don) Soó in Nepalese Himalaya
Due to a marked decline in its natural populations, D. hatagirea has been listed as an endangered species in Nepal by Conservation Assessment and Management Plan;
The tubers of D. hatagirea yield a high quality salep (a beverage made from the powder of the orchid tuber), which is used as an aphrodisiac or a nutritive and restorative tonic, and are also eaten raw as a farinaceous food; It is also used in the treatment of diabetes, chronic diarrhea, dysentery, coughs, hoarseness of voice, paralysis, fractures, during convalescence and to correct malnutrition;
According to the Forest Act of Nepal (2019), collection, use, sale, trade, and export of D. hatagirea are prohibited, and the species is strictly protected in list I of Government of Nepal (Go, 2011). It is also listed under appendix II in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES, 2020). Nevertheless, due to its high medicinal potency, D. hatagirea is still collected illegally at all life stages and traded to, especially, India and China;
Our interview results showed that at the protected site people are aware of the conservation status and maintain sustainable populations, whereas the opposite was the case at the unprotected site where the populations are threatened. Sustainability of D. hatagirea populations, therefore, largely depends on controlling illegal and premature harvesting and unregulated livestock grazing, thus indicating the need for permanent monitoring of the species.
This study was carried out in two sites: (i) Lolu-Pilkanda (N29°60.095′ and E080°56.754′ to N29°57.719′ and E080°57.672′) within Api Nampa Conservation Area (ANCA) in Darchula District, north- west Nepal, and (ii) Bhimthang (N28°37.607′ and E084°28.343′ to N28°40.284′ and E084°29.166′), located within the strip of land separating Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) and Manaslu Conservation Area (MCA) in Manang District, north-central Nepal (Figure 1).
D. hatagirea is collected illegally at all life stages and traded to, especially, India and China;
Our interview results showed that at the protected site people are aware of the conservation status and maintain sustainable populations, whereas the opposite was the case at the unprotected site where the populations are threatened. Sustainability of D. hatagirea populations, therefore, largely depends on controlling illegal and premature harvesting and unregulated livestock grazing, thus indicating the need for permanent monitoring of the species.
at the unprotected site, the negative impact of harvesting and grazing on density of different stages was highly pronounced. The prevailing disturbance practices (grazing, trampling, and overexploitation) and lack of awareness of the population ecology and the conservation status of the plant are the major challenges for sustainable management at the unprotected site;
therefore, use of the resource at the unprotected site appears to be unsustainable;
Chapagain, DJ, Meilby, H, Baniya, CB, Budha-Magar, S, Ghimire, SK. Illegal harvesting and livestock grazing threaten the endangered orchid Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D. Don) Soó in Nepalese Himalaya. Ecol Evol. 2021; 11: 6672– 6687. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7520
Ninety-two percent of the inform- ants claimed that illegal harvesting of D. hatagirea was a common practice and that the population had decreased drastically over the last few decades. At the protected site, however, About twenty-four percent were of the opinion that the population is decreasing, while seventy-three percent thought that the population has been almost constant in the last few decades as the local community is involved in patrolling the area to control illegal collection during the maturation period.
One of the two sites in protected