Solukhumbu · Nepal

A Science-Led Himalayan Circular Bioeconomy Platform.

SHIBH is developing responsible scientific pathways to transform Himalayan biodiversity and underutilized biomass into sustainable livelihoods, research, and future high-value bio-based products.

Early-stage initiativeScience-ledCommunity-centeredPilot under development

Landscape  →  Biodiversity  →  Scientific Research  →  Responsible Innovation  →  Community Livelihoods  →  Climate Resilience

The Challenge

Rich in biodiversity. Poor in captured value.

01

Himalayan Biodiversity

Solukhumbu holds exceptional medicinal-plant and ecological diversity, stewarded by mountain communities across generations.

02

Limited Local Value

Much of this biodiversity leaves Nepal as unprocessed or minimally processed raw material, capturing little value locally.

03

Scientific Opportunity

Careful documentation, characterization, and responsible processing could retain more value at origin — if built on evidence.

Our Integrated Model

One connected system.

Landscape
Biodiversity Documentation
Scientific Research
Responsible Processing
Bio-based Products
Community Livelihoods
Conservation

Three Scientific Programs

How the work is organized.

A
Under development

Himalayan Natural Products

Medicinal-plant documentation, botanical authentication, extraction research, analytical characterization and pathways toward standardized ingredient development.

B
Proposed pilot

Circular Mountain Biomass

Assessment and pilot conversion of selected forest, agricultural and processing residues into biochar, compost, soil amendments, renewable process energy and other bio-based materials.

C
Under development

Mountain Climate & Livelihoods

Community enterprise, sustainable resource management, soil restoration, biodiversity conservation, scientific training and climate-resilience planning.

Explore the programs →

Where We Are Today

Transparent about our stage.

SHIBH is currently in the pilot-development stage — refining our scientific and business model, developing institutional partnerships, assessing priority value chains, and planning initial laboratory, field and community activities in Solukhumbu.

Current

Now

  • Organizational and governance development
  • Research and partnership outreach
  • Pilot concept refinement
  • Laboratory and equipment planning
  • Priority value-chain selection
Under development

Next 12–18 months

  • Biomass and medicinal-plant baseline assessment
  • Community consultations
  • Research-scale extraction trials
  • Pilot biochar and soil-amendment testing
  • Analytical and environmental testing
  • Initial economic feasibility assessment
Long-term vision

Future scale

  • Standardized product development
  • Community-linked processing
  • Renewable process-energy integration
  • Independent climate assessment
  • Domestic and international market partnerships
Proposed pilot

The Proposed Solukhumbu Pilot.

Map of Nepal showing Solukhumbu district and the Tingla pilot region
Terraced farmland and hills in Solukhumbu
Terraced landscape in the Solukhumbu pilot region. Original field photograph, SHIBH.

Geographic focus

Tingla and selected communities in Solukhumbu.

Medicinal-plant focus

Berberis species and Swertia chirayita, subject to ecological assessment, legal compliance, species verification, and scientific feasibility.

Biomass focus

Pine needles, Banmara, agricultural residues and botanical-processing waste.

Science & Innovation

A staged laboratory roadmap.

Analytical capability is planned in phases. We describe capabilities we are building toward — not ones we claim to operate today.

Under development

Analytical Chemistry

Sample preparation & documentation

Long-term vision

HPLC

Marker quantification

Long-term vision

LC-MS

Compound profiling

Under development

DNA Authentication

Species verification

See the research approach →

From the Field

Solukhumbu, in context.

This short documentary introduces SHIBH's landscape, community context, and long-term vision in Solukhumbu.

Club moss (Lycopodium) in dried seasonal stage, documented in Solukhumbu
Club moss (Lycopodium), dried seasonal stage, documented in Solukhumbu. Original field photograph, SHIBH.
Club moss (Lycopodium) in green growing stage, documented in Solukhumbu
Club moss (Lycopodium), green growing stage, documented in Solukhumbu. Original field photograph, SHIBH.
Berberine-bearing Berberis root, field-collected in Solukhumbu
Berberine-bearing Berberis root, field-collected in Solukhumbu. Original field photograph, SHIBH.

View the field gallery →

Meet the Team

The people building SHIBH.

Shambhu Kumar Karki

Shambhu Kumar Karki

Founder & President
Leads: community relationships, government & institutional engagement, and field operations in Solukhumbu.
Namrata Dhungana

Namrata Dhungana

CEO & Co-Founder
Leads: the scientific programme, method development, analytical planning, and training design.
Promod Tandan

Promod Tandan

Finance & Strategy
Leads: financial structuring, modelling, reporting, and development-finance readiness.

Full team →

Seeking partners

Partnership pathways.

🔬

Research Institutions

Joint studies, responsible sample access subject to applicable permits and benefit-sharing requirements, analytical collaboration, co-authored publications.

🏛️

Government

Policy alignment, technical assistance, coordination with national priorities.

🌍

Development Organizations

Exploratory engagement on nature, climate resilience, and rural livelihoods.

🏭

Industry

Responsible botanical and bio-based product development partnerships.

⚙️

Technology

Analytical, processing, and monitoring technology collaboration.

📈

Investors

Stage-appropriate involvement as the pilot model matures.

Explore partnership pathways →

Preparing the foundation for a responsible pilot.

The opportunity is clear. We are building the partnerships and evidence needed for a responsible pilot.