An Overview Of Our Solution
The proposed project & solution based on its implementation for last 3 years aimed to build capacity of important stakeholders of Medicinal and Aromatic plants sector such as private sector companies, forest dependent communities and Govt. bodies in understanding the role and importance of the FAIRWILD standard in promotion of ecologically and financially sustainable livelihoods, Access and Benefit Sharing and fair trade practices. The implementation of the solution was based on rigorous research through resource assessments, market surveys and networking to reach like-minded partners interested in biodiversity conservation and ecologically just business. Conservation of giant trees becomes extremely difficult in the absence of legal protection to the species and forests in north western Ghats of India.
Who is this solution impacting?
Community Type
Rural
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: Asia
General Information
Organization type
Nonprofit
Ecosystem (select all that apply)
Forests
Population impacted
2500
Challenge
Size of agricultural area
200 ha
Production quantity
4 tones
People employed
35 seasonal + 15 permanent
Solution
Describe your solution
In the NW Ghats of India AERF has used FAIRWILD certification to promote biodiversity conservation, sustainable collection of target species & economic growth for last couple of years successfully creating a creating win-win for people, biodiversity and markets. Wild harvest can lead to over-exploitation, especially in the face of high market demand. To secure the protection to T. bellirica trees AERF revived the collection of fruits and engaged with a pharmaceutical company to ensure buyback. Good management practices which are ethical, inclusive and economically viable can probably provide a truly sustainable alternative to over exploitation of biodiversity through enhanced liveihoods. In 2013 AERF shortlist 2 sites for FAIRWILD certification. T. bellirica based enterprise has been developed through promotion of collection of wild fruits. It helped providing much needed local seasonal as well as long term employment to uneducated youth and women, it provided incentives to the villages for protection of sacred forests by Pukka Herbs and ensured he protection of more of these trees. Capacity building of local people to participate in the supply chain management has been continuous process and awareness about the value of these giant trees strengthen AERF’s conservation work with local community. Local people now fetch 12INR/ kg fresh fruits collected and get further employment of up to 40 days for drying and processing.
Implementation
Describe your implementation
Market survey to know the demand of T. bellirica fruits has been carried out. It provided an opportunity to engage with Pukka Herbs UK. There is a demand to Bibitaki ( local name of T. Bellirica fruit in the pharmaceutical Industry) but most of dried fruits are collected from central India, mainly from Govt. owned protected forests. There were very few threats to those populations. Whereas in North Western Ghats these trees are threatened. Therefore resource assessment and threat analysis has been conducted to understand the potential for conservation through a market based solution. Once this was established community capacity building and engaging with them meaningfully has been another long term process carried out through meetings and sessions with different stakeholders group like collectors, women, Local pharmaceutical companies and Fair Wild Inspectors, Organic certification Inspectors. The local government bodies and traditional village management bodies were consulted to ensure the smooth implementation of project activities and sharing benefits of the certified collection. Their engagement has helped to ensure that the incentive given to the villages for protection to the sacred groves has been used for mutually agreed protection activities. More villages with T. bellirica trees in their sacred groves came forward and wanted to participate. The idea that fruits can fetch better price, promoted change and people stopped cutting these trees for timber . In the third year of the project local people take own initiative in tagging the certified areas and trees and work for collection with certified collectors. AERF has been working in this area for last two decades for conservation on the ground with community participation. Sacred groves conservation and developing doable solutions to ensure protection to biodiversity has been a long-term program.
External connections
Local Governing Bodies : Sacred groves are managed by local community but are under the ownership of Government and its Revenue department in India. For any collection especially revenue earning activities the consent of Govt. depart and local governing body is important. AERF due to their long term work in the area could get support from local governing bodies in all the villages where the project is being implemented.
Pukka Herbs : A U.K. based Pharmaceutical Company producing certified Ayurveda medicines, helped us to develop solution and supported conservation of trees and sacred groves. Pukka engaged in community process and capacity building for strengthening T. bellirica supply chain.
Phalada PHALADA Agro Research Foundation Pvt.Ltd : This is an Indian company sourcing raw material from India.
Nature Connect India Pvt. Ltd. : This is a company actually doing business with Pukka Herbs as AERF being a nonprofit cannot do it. AERF in last couple of years has build the capacity of this newly established company and now planning to get community shareholders into the company.
Other partners include
Donor agencies: Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund(CI USA), Darwin Initiative DICE Kent University UK .
Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board
Fair Wild Foundation
IMO Switzerland
Results
What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?
The medicinal plants sector though highly promising in terms of providing opportunities for economic development and for biodiversity conservation at landscape level has seldom delivered on these expectations. The unfair market practices and complete disregard to ecological sustainability of the resource are some of the key reasons behind failure of this sector. Local extinction and decline in healthy populations of many economically important medicinal plants provide sufficient evidence for these unsustainable practices. Good management practices which are ethical, inclusive and economically viable can probably provide a truly sustainable alternative for biodiversity conservation and livelihoods.
Medicinal plants, often harvested directly from the wild, are under increasing pressure of development and over-exploitation in response to increasing demand.
Describe the context in which you are operating
The trees that are providing valuable Ayurveda medicines are vanishing from the forests and could be seen only in traditionally protected sacred forests. Fruits of Terminalia bellirica tree , is one such example and proposed solution is contributing to social, ecological and economic benefits is built around these trees. Due to meager income from fruits but high returns from the timber, these trees are often cut. Therefore the challenge faced to save these giant trees of T.bellirica from sacred groves was manifold. These trees are slow growing and plantation cannot be an answer to clear-felling. The ecological challenge was to re establish the value of fruits, value of trees and create incentive mechanism to avoid felling of remaining trees.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
With the implementation of Fair Wild certified T.bellirica fruits collection and processing the direct impact has been observed. Total 6 sacred groves are certified with more than 200 trees within them. The process enhanced community’s perception about the value of these trees. Protection to these sacred groves ensured through incentives for conservation of the sacred groves to the villages. More villages with sacred groves and T. bellirica trees approached AERF for participation in the certification and high returns through collection and processing.
Language(s)
English, Marathi, Hindi
Water
N/A
Food Security/Nutrition
N/A
Economic/Sustainable Development
The enterprise took about three years to develop. Now it is well settled, more villages, their resources areas and sacred groves with these trees are added into the certification process. Therefore participation has positively increased and sustainability has been ensured. Direct benefits of trees without cutting them have been appreciated the community.
Climate
Giant trees of T. bellirica have carbon stored in them and their protection certainly stopped emissions due to felling . Due to the enterprise based on trees not only T. bellirica are protected but other trees and sacred groves ranging from 1 ha to 20 ha are protected. The water bodies and traditional water harvesting structures within them contribute to reduce impacts of Climate Change on local level.
Sustainability
Since last year we could collect 4 tons of raw fruits of T. bellirica and could sell about 1.5 tons of destoned fruits to Pukka Herbs. Collectors get Rs. 12 / Kg for fresh fruits. They also participate in drying and de stoning activities and get additional employment. More trees are being certified using Fair Wild standards as the demand from Pukka Herbs is increasing. The breakeven of the business will be achieved in an years’ time when we can supply powder of dried certified fruits with higher price. That means it will be sustainable based on market revenue from next year. After the first two years and support for capacity building investment , we are now not dependent on donor support or any govt. subsidy.
Return on investment
Since 2013 the total investment was approximately 60000 USD. However it covered another species and other site also. We are now 60% self-sufficient and we do not have to repay for any investment made through project support or pay any interest.
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Replication and Scale
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
AERF is the 1ST organization that has developed certification based solution for community benefit that is contributes to conservation. Similarly this is the first Fair Wild certification in India that is for wild tree species. AERF has also developed the similar enterprise for T. chebula fruits. The T.chebula trees are available on the forests owned by community or individually. T.bellirica and T. chebula fruits are purchased by Pukka Herbs for preparation of Triphala, an Ayurveda preparation.
AERF has been working to develop other medicinal plants based supply chains for certification e.g. Tinospora cordifolia wild medicinal plant used in many Ayurveda remedies. Diversification of high value products has been identified as a strategy to address the feasibility issues. In addition, external support in terms grants and investment has to be sought for certification costs till value added goods are sold in high volumes to make the enterprise self-sustainable.