Tightly coiled fern plants with a distinctive appearance emerge amid the sal tree undergrowth as the monsoon rains fall on Nepal’s fertile floodplains.
Due to its resemblance to the violin scroll, the plant is known as the “fiddle-head fern,” locally called niuro.
Soon, the fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) will travel to different parts of the nation, including Kathmandu, where it will be savored with staple rice and lentils.
Beneath this unassuming vegetable, however, is a tale of complex relationships between people and wildlife, survival and the harsh realities of tigerland life in Nepal.
Niuro is commonly pickled or boiled with potatoes. For the people of Kathmandu, once the market is overflowing with it, it’s just another vegetable. However, niuro is a means of subsistence for those residing in the Terai, particularly landless people who live close to national parks like Chitwan and Bardiya, as it can be sold for a good price and support families.
“It is a delicacy as well as a source of income for the people of the lowlands,” says Birendra Mahato, director at the Tharu Cultural Museum and Research Center in Sauraha, near Chitwan National Park. “People risk their lives to go into the jungle to fetch the plant.”
In protected areas such as Chitwan National Park, it is illegal to harvest this wild fern, found to have antibacterial, antiviral and antioxidant properties. Local harvesters are forced to play cat and mouse with both patrolling soldiers and wild animals like tigers and rhinos because they believe the tastiest niuro grows in these forbidden zones.
It takes courage to go into the jungles and gather niuro. One major threat comes from the dense underbrush, which is home to some of Nepal’s most dangerous predators. Particularly dangerous to anyone who ventures into their territory are tigers.
“The time of the day people look for niuro coincides with the tigers’ active period when they move around looking for prey,” explains Jhamak Karki, a former warden at Chitwan National Park. As illegal collectors want to avoid being spotted by security personnel, they have been found going into the jungle either early in the morning or after dusk.
“If a tiger sees a person bending down to cut the fern, it might mistake them for prey, even though humans aren’t its preferred food.”
The risks are increased in the monsoon season when tigers and other animals seek cover in the cooler, marshy parts of the jungle, which are ideal for niuro growth. This raises the possibility of fatal interactions.
Regretfully, these kinds of interactions happen frequently. Almost every monsoon season, news reports surface about tigers killing fern collectors. Aash Bahadur Bote, a 26-year-old man, perished on July 24, 2023, while looking for niuro. A 55-year-old woman in Chitwan suffered a similar fate in June 2022.
“Two years ago, a man died because he wanted more,” recalls Mahato. “He already had 90 bunches of niuro, but he wanted 10 more. The tiger killed him.”
Between 2019 and 2023, 38 people lost their lives in tiger attacks in Nepal. Conservationists claim that people entering known tiger habitats in search of fuel, wood and food – such as niuro – is the primary cause of these deaths.
These incidents highlight the risky nature of collecting niuro and the extreme measures people are willing to take. According to Nepali law, if someone enters a national park without authorisation – for instance, to gather niuro – and dies, the government is not required to compensate the departed person’s family.
The financial rewards are undisputed, notwithstanding the dangers. A harvester can make 1,000-1,200 Nepali rupees (about $7.50-$9) in a single day, which is a substantial amount for many families in the area. “I utilise the funds to purchase necessities and send my son to school,” Kumari BK, a 50-year-old niuro collector who gathers the plants from community forests around Chitwan, told Onlinekhabar in 2023.
The risks connected to niuro collection highlight the need for safer and more environmentally friendly substitutes. In Nepal, a lot of conservation programmes concentrate on giving livestock feed and cooking fuel, but they frequently ignore problems relating to wild edibles like niuro.
In order to address the conflict between humans and wildlife, researcher and conservationist Kanchan Thapa says he thinks wild edibles need to receive more attention. The fact that these plants exist in the wild gives them value. Cultivating them in controlled environments would be challenging, he says.
Revision of community forest management plans to incorporate guidelines for the safe gathering of wild edibles is one possible remedy. According to Karki, “The current plans are primarily focused on timber extraction and fodder.” However, they also need to talk about how safe it is for people to gather niuro. To prevent future deaths, this could involve taking steps like traveling in groups, designating precise times for collection and keeping an eye on tiger activity.
Thapa says more successful livelihood initiatives are required, ones that take into consideration the conditions of these communities. “We also need to look into sustainable substitutes for wild edibles that can promote livelihoods without endangering lives.”
Until such solutions are found, the humble niuro will continue to remain at the heart of human-tiger interactions in Nepal.
This article was first published on Mongabay.
