Sher Bahadur of Shalija in Jaljala Rural Municipality often finds himself going to the forest near his house these days. They did not enter the forest to find firewood or to grow apples. He entered the forest to collect gurjogano and chutro. Locals like Sher Bahadur have started going to the forest these days as chutro collected from the forest can be sold for Rs.

After the establishment of the Chinese company Chifu Biotechnology Pvt. Ltd. in Kushma Municipality-5 Jalkeni last November, the locals started entering the forest to look for Chutro and Gurjogano. This company, which was registered in 2081 in the Department of Industry under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply, is preparing to send Gurjogano and Chutro into powder without processing and sending it to China.

Sher Bahadur, who is waiting for a visa to Romania, says that instead of sitting empty-handed at home, he will go to the forest and earn more money. He said, "I earned 55,000 rupees by selling 15/16 hundred kilos of chutro and gurjogano in two weeks". The house expenses have been going well, I have also paid the interest on the loan I took to go abroad.' He said that he went to the nearby Tare Bun and loaded the gurjogano and chutro in a jeep and took it to the company.

Like Sher Bahadur, Nanda Darzi of Kushma Municipality-4 also said that she went to the local forests and collected gurjogano and sold it. She is stunned after earning 26 thousand rupees. She told me that she earned income during two months and even now she is going to the forest to search.

Even when wild herbs are collected by reaching the forest, protests have started from the citizen level for the lack of interest of the concerned authorities. Yuvraj Sharma, a local of Kushma, says that the random collection of herbs from the forest is a matter of concern. He said, "Nowadays, people reach the forest without getting light." They will not have any roots, and they will grow and grow  Excavate . Herbs are being sold to foreign companies for the greed of some money.

Although Sharma expressed concern, the local public representatives seem to be divided on this issue. Some are silent while some have started saying that random collection should be stopped . Last February 28, Kushmasthti  Some people's representatives told the Forest and Environment Minister of Gandaki Province, Bhesh Bahadur Paudel, who came to the Congress party office, saying that the illegal extraction of chutro and gujargano from the community and government forests should be stopped. Dines Shrestha, the ward chairman of Kushma municipality-4, said that they have submitted this matter to the minister, and said, "It cannot be said that the social and environmental imbalance will not come tomorrow if people enter the forest and excavate it without any regulation.

Some locals are protesting this work of collecting and transporting medicinal plants through social networks. After the voice of protest started increasing, on February 5th, the joint team of Division Forest Office Parbat, District Administration Office Parbat and District Coordination Office Parbat also carried out on-site monitoring of the industry . Jhyam Narayan Sapkota, Divisional Forest Officer, said that after the monitoring, the Forest Office issued a letter to stop the collection work immediately saying that the company did not complete the necessary legal process.  

In the letter sent by the Forest Office to the company, it is mentioned that the company did not conduct the preliminary environmental test (IE) according to the Environmental Protection Act, 2076 and Regulations, 2077. Showing this reason, even though the office has ordered to stop the ongoing work immediately, its company is buying chutro and gurjogano collected from the local.

In accordance with the Environmental Protection Act, 2076 and Regulations, 2077, the industry can start a project, industry or business only after preparing an initial environmental test report and getting it approved by the relevant government agency. This process aims to preserve environmental balance, minimize impacts on ecosystems and promote sustainable development. But this foreign company seems to be conducting the project without conducting preliminary environmental tests.

On the one hand, the Division Forest Office Parbat is showing its concern in this matter by correspondence, on the other hand, the Division Ban Office is issuing a circular to permit the collection and transportation of herbs from the bans in the numbered areas where the registration of the person has been established . The office has said that permission has been granted to collect and transport Gurjogano and Chutro in schedule 16 of the Gandaki State Forest Regulation 2081 .

Sapkota, Divisional Forest Officer of Forest Office Parbat, said that they cannot stop what they bring from private forests. He said, "The farmer has to complete the process so that he can sell the chutro and gurjogano in my forest, and after completing the process, he has to give permission." According to the

office, only 10,500 kg of Gurjogano and 3,000 kg of Chutro have been collected from the mountain since the month of January. According to the forest, Gurjogano and Chutro have been collected only from Falewas Municipality and Paiyun Village. The office said that it does not have the number of how many people have left to collect and distribute chutro and gurjogano.

Chifu Company Pvt Ltd Manager and Information Officer Harikumar Shrestha admitted that the preliminary environmental test report has not been approved but is in the final process. He said that when preparations were started for a small trial, suddenly the forest office stopped it after the farmers brought Chutro and Gurjogano with more results. According to him, the test work is still going on and the company will work with more results after the initial environmental test report is approved. Chinese company Chifu Biotechnology Co., Ltd. premises .