Back to news
24 Sep 2015 | News

Bhutanese teachers become herb gardeners

1 min Read

70% Complete

To popularize the usefulness of commonly available and frequently used herbal plants and to conserve the associated traditional knowledge for future generations, ICIMOD Promoted Herbal Gardens in Schools in collaboration with Renewable Natural Resources Research of Bhutan (CoRRB) in 2012.  The in-school herbal gardens have been a full-filling learning activity for the children as they had the opportunity to learn about medicinal plants and their importance through planting, observation and research.

For 26 teachers, the project created an opportunity to integrate the concept with other the gardens with other activities such as eco-club, writing easy, stories, making poster, painting and preparing recipes. With the request of Renewable Natural Resources Research of Bhutan (CoRRB)/School Agricultural Programme (SAP), Ministry of Agriculture and Forest, Royal Government of Bhutan ICIMOD organized eight days of hands-on training for the Bhutanese teachers on herb gardening in ICIMOD Knowledge Park at Godavari December 2014. Another training session was held in Bhutan from 3-12h July 2015. The herb garden training in Nepal and Bhutan was supported by DANIDA Fellowship Center (DFC).

During the training, teachers learned how to design and start an herb garden in school, how to promote awareness, monitor and to scale up the idea, and to identify high value medicinal plants and herbs and their uses in traditional medicines in Bhutan.

Teachers also learned about the commercial uses and marketing of high value medicinal plants. The Institute of Traditional Medicine (ITM) will buy medicinal plants produced by schools. ITM is already working with farm co-operatives to purchasing the herbs for local and international marketing linking producers and buyers.

The participants presented a progress action plan they prepared in December 2014 at ICIMOD Knowledge Park at Godavari. The training was followed by field visits to climate-smart villages in Sonamthang and Panbang. The field visits were organized by Renewable Natural Resources, Rural Development Centre in Ghelephu. Participants observed non-timber forest products, bamboo propagation and management, the Aghardhup processing plant, as well as livestock and fruit orchards.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related Contents

Continue exploring this topic

24 Oct 2016 News
Monsoon Discharge Measurements of Langtang Khola and Lirung Outlet

To catch the highest discharge of Langtang Khola and Lirung outlet, a team of glacio-hydrologists from the International Centre for ...

13 Jan 2020 Cryosphere
International forum spotlights need for collaborative, transdisciplinary cryosphere research in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

One hundred and twenty leading experts, practitioners, and stakeholders from the region and beyond attended the three-day forum. They discussed ...

6 Jan 2017 News
Use of Picture Series Gaining Momentum in KSL

The Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative’s (KSLCDI) efforts to encourage the use of pictures as an adult education ...

14 Dec 2015 KSL
Toilets Clean up Kailash Sacred Landscape

  The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in collaboration with Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS) Foundation and Central Himalayan Environment ...

8 Mar 2019 Gender in Koshi
Breaking Taboos: My Parents’ Stand for Gender Equality

Growing up, our sense of the world – all that is right in it and all that is wrong – ...

20 May 2022 News
Bee engaged: Celebrating the diversity of bees and beekeeping systems

Each year, we mark 20 May as World Bee Day to raise awareness about the essential role bees play ...

1 Dec 2016 KSL
Kailash Promoted as a Transboundary Brand at the 14th National Handicraft Trade Fair in Kathmandu

[caption id="attachment_7820" align="aligncenter" width="560"] The launch of the allo community training manual[/caption] The Kailash ...

30 Mar 2018 REDD+
Myanmar works towards linking REDD+ with SDGs and NDCs

Although Myanmar has the highest forest cover in Southeast Asia, the country is facing rapid deforestation and has lost around ...