Daphne bholua is the source of traditional Lokta paper in Nepal.

At this time of year the early signs of spring are very welcome. In the Chilean Terrace behind the main glasshouse range is an attractive pink Daphne from the Himalaya that produces a heady sweet scent. It is this plant that is the source of fiber for producing a high quality paper known as Lokta paper in Nepal.

On Sunday 2nd March 2014 Amisha Bhandari and Mandira Bhattarai, employees from Get Paper Industry, a hand-made paper co-operative in Kathmandu, will be talking about the paper as part of a Fairtrade Fortnight tour of Scotland hosted by Edinburgh Fairtrade City Group.

Amisha Bhandari and Mandira Bhattarai from Get Paper Industry and Mark Watson and Bhaskar Adhikari from RBGE meeting the Lord Provost the Rt Hon Donald Wilson.

There will be a short presentation on the ground floor of the John Hope Gateway at the Royal Botanic Garden at 1pm, which will be followed by craft activities using the Lokta paper until 4pm.

The plants of Nepal are the focus of a long-term project at the Garden to write a ‘flora’ that will document the rich plantlife for the first time. The Flora of Nepal project has information on around 6,500 species of plant in Nepal and it has been estimated that as more remote regions are explored that the final number of species will be over 7,000.