Kathmandu. The collection of Yarsagumba, a valuable herb with medicinal properties, has begun at the high peaks of four out of five local levels in the district. The Yarsa picking is rampant in the high altitudes that fall under the jurisdiction of ACAP Jomsom and ACAP Lomanthang under the Annapurna Conservation Area Project under the National Trust for Nature Conservation Project.

According to ACAP, yarsa monastery collection is taking place in more than half a dozen high lakes, kharkas and Patan here. Wild medicinal herb Yarsa is found at an altitude above four thousand above sea level. Deepak Oli, assistant to natural resource conservation of ACAP Jomsom, said that the locals and people from outside the district have already set out for the high lake and Patan after acquiring the license by paying the fees as determined by the Conservation Area Management Committee (CMC).

According to him, there is a provision that various committees here have to take prior written permission from ACAP office for permission to release yarsagumba. The Yarsa picking has already started at Thasang, Gharpajhong, Waragung Mukti Chhetra and Loghekar Damodar Kunda rural municipalities in the district.

According to Oli, the Kunjo, Kowang and Tukuche Conservation Management Committees of Thasang Rural Municipality have started collecting yarsa in the High Hill from April 15.

Similarly, the Gharpajhong Rural Municipality-based Conservation Management Committee, Jomsom has decided to stop the yarsa collection from May 10, said committee secretary Pawan Gurung. According to committee secretary Gurung, the collection of yarsagumba has been lifted from Gharpajhong-5, which is under the jurisdiction of Jomsom Conservation Area Management Committee, to Kungle Lake, bordering Lupra Lake via Gharpajhong-5.

Secretary Gurung said that the committee has been issuing permits for the collection of yarsagumba to the locals registered in Dhumba, Samle, Thini and Jomsom for the collection of yarsagumba. According to committee secretary Gurung, so far 65 people have taken permission for the construction of the Jomsom Lake.

The Muktinath Conservation Area Management Committee based in Waragung Mukti Chhetra-1 has decided to stop the yarsa collection from Sunday. The local artist will be charged three thousand rupees as a license to pick and finish a permit at the high tek under the Committee, while a person from outside the district will be charged six thousand rupees, said committee secretary Lakpatasi Gurung.

A total of 165 persons have been granted license to collect yarshaw at Risamba Lek above Muktinath and Near Dzhong High Lake above Lupra village. Secretary Gurung said that hundred percent of the people who have taken permission for yarsha in the high lek of Muktinath area, Kharka and Patan are from outside the district.

Last year, the price of Yarsa monastery was low and this year the number of Yarsagumba collectors was less, according to the Muktinath Committee. Committee secretary Gurung said the number of people collecting yarsagumba has decreased by 50 per cent this year as compared to the last year. Similarly, the Zhong Conservation Management Committee of Waragung Mukti Chhetra-2 has also taken permission from ACAP to start the Yarsa collection in the high peak.

Similarly, the Surkhang Conservation Area Management Committee based in Loghekar Damodar Kunda-5, Tangya of Upper Mustang has also started collecting yarsagumba, ACAP Lomanthang chief Umesh Poudel said. According to Poudel, the committee has taken permission from ACAP office to collect yarsa at Pa Lake. Mayor Poudel said there was no herb collection in Lomanthang rural municipality whereas only Surkhang committee at Logherak Damodar Kunda had lifted the collection of yarsagumba.

Although the Yarsa collection permit was issued by the committee under ACAP in the high peaks of Annapurna Protected Area, Yarsa collection permits have been released from the local society without taking permission from ACAP to collect yarsagumba in some villages. The collection of yarsa has been released from the village society without the coordination of ACAP and other villages including Chhengur, Kagbeni and Chusang under Gharpajhong-2, Marfa, Waragung Mukti Chhetra.

With the beginning of the Yarsa monastery season in Mustang, the number of Yarsa collectors has increased in the high peaks, pastures and Patans. The people who collect yarsa have already reached the high peak with food and lodging materials to stay in the lake for a couple of months.

It has to pay revenue and fees to the concerned local level and Conservation Area Management Committee if the Yarsa monastery collected in the high altitude of Mustang is to be exported outside the district. As per the regulation of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, traders have to pay Rs 31,000 revenue per kg if they have to transport yarsagumba outside the district. According to Kajiram Guru, a yarsa entrepreneur of Gorkha, the market price of the plant ranges from Rs 1.5 million to Rs 25 lakh per kg depending on the quality.

According to the government data, the district exports five to seven kilograms annually by paying revenue. Of the total yarn produced in Nepal, 80 percent is exported to other countries. With the beginning of yarshaw season, ACAP has already started using AI-enabled drone cameras to control wildlife poaching, forest fires and prevent unwanted activities at High Lake, Kharka and Patan.

The AI drone camera has been used to control and detect all types of risk and crime in High Lake. Apart from this, foot patrolling has also been carried out in the presence of ACAP administration, police and Conservation Area Management Committee to prevent criminal activities in the forest and high lake.

Yarsa Monastery is a mixed plant and natural herb found in the high lakes, kharkas and Patan of the Himalayan region. Some people even call it going to pick insects without saying yarsa. A special type of butterfly larvae found in the high lakes of the Himalayas live in the ground. A fungus called ‘Cordyceps’ enters the body of this insect.

The fungus slowly develops inside the insect’s body and kills the insect and lives inside it. At the beginning of the winter months, a small grass-like stalk emerges from the head of the dead insect. The body of the insect and the fungus growing on top of it is called Yarsa Gumba.

Overall, yarsha is derived from the Tibetan meaning of summer grass and gumba meaning winter worm. The consumption of Yarsa gumba found in the mountainous region increases physical fitness and strength.

Yarsa consumption is considered useful to increase sexual capacity and immunity. Yarsa monastery is consumed more in the world market as it is used as a natural chemical for the production of medicines by foreigners.