Trade and conservation of medicinal and aromatic plants: an annotated bibliography for Nepal

There is a large amount of literature on Nepalese commercial medicinal plants, fungi, and lichens. This annotated bibliography presents an overview of all literature published up to 2015, including abstracts and specification of the physical location of all references. The literature survey involved three main steps: (i) collecting, (ii) organising and recording, and (iii) analysing and synthesising the literature. Collection of literature took place at 29 key resource institutions in Nepal. The bibliography includes a total of 350 references. In addition, it provides a brief overview of the state-of-knowledge on trade in commercial medicinal plants in and from Nepal, based on the identified white and grey literature, under the five broad headings: (i) household incomes and livelihoods, (ii) trade and marketing, (iii) governance, (iv) resource base, biophysical studies, and conservation and sustainable use, and (v) processing and consumption. While there is some understanding of what products are traded and characteristics of previous and current transnational production networks, it is also clear that these networks are diverse and dynamic. We identify major research gaps, including the need to understand network governance, trade drivers, and sustainability challenges.