Five years of FairWild in India’s Western Ghats: Nature Connect goes from strength to strength
Photo credit: AERF
July 2020 - Nature Connect India has a special place among the FairWild-certified wild collections operations. Not only was it the first company in India to be certified by FairWild, but also the company has had biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihoods objectives embedded at the heart of the initiative right from the beginning.
It has been five years since their first FairWild certification in 2015 and we want to celebrate our success and ongoing work with them as well as explore some of the challenges the company has faced along the way.
The History
Nature Connect India was set up by the Applied Environment Research Foundation (AERF) of India, a conservation NGO which specialises in participatory biodiversity management in the Western Ghats. AERF identified that 95% of the forests in north Western Ghats were owned and managed by local communities who use logging as a primary means of income, resulting in extensive biodiversity loss and degradation of the forests.
Some of the trees that were being logged were Terminalia bellirica (Bibhitaki) from the forests of Sangameshwar in Ratnagiri district (many of which are located within sacred groves), while in Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary in Pune district the indigenous Mahadeo Koli community were suffering economic losses due to land tenure and restricted access to resources, exploitation by traders and unsustainable harvesting of Terminalia chebula (Haritaki) fruits. Both trees produce fruits prized for their medicinal properties in Ayurveda.
Over a project that took many years, AERF formed Nature Connect India, a for-profit “conservation enterprise” with the mandate to generate sustainable income streams as well as conservation impact. Through this company and with FairWild certification, they were able to incentivise local communities to move away from destructive logging and find long-term income generation through sustainable harvesting of the economically and medicinally valuable fruit of the trees. This offered a more sustainable source of income for the local people.
Jayant Sarnaik, joint director of AERF and founder of Nature Connect India, said “Previously the fruits of Terminalia bellirica were rarely collected because the market was either too far away or the price was too low. In case of fully matured fruits of Terminalia chebula, the local communities did not know its medicinal use and true economic potential and thus were selling it at throw away price. By providing a reliable market and a premium price for the fruit, the local villagers have had an incentive to protect the trees. The FairWild project is safeguarding around 4000 T. chebula trees and 1000 T. bellirica trees, ensuring good livelihoods of the communities who depend upon the forests and also protecting the ecosystem as a whole.”
“This would not have been possible without our international partners: funding from UK’s Darwin Initiative and the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund and technical support from Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), TRAFFIC and Pukka Herbs Ltd. We have worked hard to achieve FairWild and organic certification learning a great deal along the way. Our journey required us to learn how to meet the quality and traceability requirements of global markets, as well as how to implement international fair-trade concepts locally.”
On-going Success
Pukka has been using FairWild certified T. bellirica and T. chebula for their Wholistic Triphala capsules and some of their tea blends which are sold throughout the UK in almost all supermarkets. Banyan Botanicals also buys FairWild certified T. chebula to produce their Triphala blends. Since 2018, Nature Connect have been producing some of their own Triphala blend locally, a step that was previously carried out entirely by their trading partner and exporter Phalada Agro (a FairWild-registered trader).
Photo credit: AERF
Sarnaik stated that “The demand for FairWild-certified Haritaki and Bibhitaki is growing exponentially. In 2015, the first year of FairWild certification, 2.6 metric tons (MTs) of T. bellirica fruit and 3.6 MTs of T. chebula fruit were collected under the standard and in 2019, 12 MTs of T. bellirica fruit and 11.5 MTs of T. chebula fruit were collected.”
“Brands recognise the benefits of using FairWild certified ingredients – long-term supply-chain sustainability, ingredients that support livelihoods, a supply-chain that enhances the ecosystem rather than destroying it, all the while, providing higher quality products for the consumer.”
This project is a huge success for FairWild, Nature Connect, Pukka Herbs and all other organisations that were involved in it. Not surprisingly, it has attracted international interest as a model of sustainable harvesting, including being featured by the Satoyama Initiative and in the American Botanical Council’s journal.
COVID- 19
In 2020, Nature Connect are facing new challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of writing, India has reported nearly 22,000 deaths and over 794,000 confirmed cases associated with the SARS-Cov2 virus, and cases continue to rise.
Sarnaik, said, “We are experiencing a great deal of uncertainty. Both urban and rural areas in India face economic hardship and healthcare impacts – including the Western Ghats. We aim to support the communities involved in the FairWild project throughout the pandemic, and to continue with sustainable wild harvesting activities to the extent that they can be done safely.”
“It is certainly sign of great commitment and passion of our local team members and community to this initiative that Nature Connect could honour all their supply commitments in these challenging times.”
“We are also seeking additional government and donor support where available. We welcome the additional flexibility on use of the FairWild Premium fund that has been made possible by the FairWild Foundation in 2020, as the community members supplying Nature Connect are facing immediate hardship.”
Despite the problems faced by India’s rural communities, sustainable harvest and trade of wild plant ingredients remains as important as ever. As highlighted in the recent TRAFFIC report, The Invisible Trade, wild plants are under threat worldwide and trade is increasing, with some indications that the COVID-19 pandemic may be directly increasing demand for some herbal ingredients used in medicinal and wellbeing products. India’s AYUSH ministry itself has recommended many preparations made with Haritaki.
Sarnaik said, “Nature Connect supplies the domestic market as well as international, and so far the demand for herbal ingredients such as Haritaki and Bibhitaki has been strong. This is good for income generation opportunities for the communities such as those we support through Nature Connect, but it could potentially trigger other problems due to overharvesting. Non-timber forest products are a resource that rural poor may fall back on during times of hardship, but these products can be over-exploited.”
The Future
Nature Connect has already begun working to protect other non-timber forest products which are in danger of over-harvesting. A pilot harvesting of Indian Frankincense gum, Boswellia serrata, used widely for chronic inflammatory conditions, has already taken place in 2020. Nature Connect are now looking for potential trading partners interested in the products to support the conservation initiative as well as continuing to work on whether the sites (including some reforested plots) can be technically eligible for FairWild certification.
Nature Connect have also identified other products that could be FairWild certified, such as the Shatavari root tuber Asparagus racemosus, popular in Ayurvedic medicine for gynaecological health and Madhuca longifolia fruit used for respiratory conditions.
Sarnaik said, “We welcome new enquiries, as we need long term partners to help us achieve our objectives and protect the precious biodiversity of the Western Ghats.”
For more details and to contact Nature Connect, see their profile page.