Biodiversity Conservation Network
3. Tasar Silk and Honey in the Mountains of Garhwal
Location: Garhwal, Uttar Pradesh, India
Partners: Appropriate Technology International (ATI)
EDA Rural Systems
Kumaun University
Community EnterprisesBCN Funding: $571,201 Partner Contribution: $803,397
Grant Period: September 1, 1995 - August 31, 1998
What's at Stake?
The rugged mountains of the Garhwal district are home to the endangered snow leopard, black bear, bharal deer and musk deer. However, the rich biodiversity of the region is threatened by over-grazing and excessive harvesting of non-timber forest products as well as unsustainable fuel and fodder collection. To counter these problems, project partners are working to establish community-based oak tasar silk and honey production enterprises in three watersheds in Garhwal to help strengthen local community forest resource management and provide sustainable sources of revenues for the villagers.
Tasar silkworms (Antheraea proylei) use oak leaves from village and state owned forests as their food source. Last year, when villagers in Akash Kamani Valley harvested their first ever tasar crop from oak leaves, it was like "seeing was believing." Villagers, particularly women, began to see value added to their efforts which often go undervalued.
We hope that by involving the whole family in the tasar enterprises that families will understand their vested interest in ensuring that the harvest is indeed sustainable. The silk enterprise is divided into a centrally run grainage that produces silkworm seed eggs for sale to community members, household run rearing enterprises that will use oak leaves to feed the silkworms and a centrally operated silk reeling and marketing enterprise to process silk thread that will be sold to cloth manufacturers.
The honey enterprise will involve placing bee hives near houses. The bees forage for nectar in natural forests, alpine meadows and agricultural lands.
1997 Update
This year the project expanded beyond the well established activities in the Akash Kamani Valley to several new villages in the Mansuma Valley. And great strides were made in establishing the tasar activities. The daunting problem of finding technically qualified personnel willing to settle in Ukhimath was resolved by identifying local project staff who have shown promise and aptitude, shifting them to technical positions and providing them with intensive training and periodic technical support from outside. The government has also made a substantial commitment, agreeing to assign a highly qualified technician to work with project technical staff for two years.
Two companies have been registered: Chamoli Tasar and Devhbhoomi Madhu Private Limited. A skilled General Manager has been hired to oversee the day to day operations of both enterprises. Meanwhile, efforts are underway to promote greater producer ownership of the enterprises.
Project staff have surveyed sites for the micro-hydro installation to develop in-house facilities including a cocoon preservation center, grainage for eggs and a honey processing plant. The United Nations Development Program/Global Environment Facility Hilly Hydro has offered very favorable financial terms for its installation.
On the conservation front, senior botanist Dr. S.P. Singh and his team, which included local villagers, worked to complete the initial baseline survey of the ecosystems in the project area. Among the major findings, is that the semicarpafolia variety of oak is not regenerating, for reasons not yet clear. By contrast, the Himalayan variety which can also be used is increasing. Dr. Singh and staff have started discussions with villagers about how best to design a conservation awareness program and to integrate it with other program components. The socio-economic baseline survey which was also completed this year under the guidance of EDA Rural systems will provide useful information to further integrate all of the project activities.
Success Stories
Despite the setbacks of 1996 caused by torrential rains and viral diseases of the silkworms, the silkworm business has bounced back. And this year, there has been a marked increase in confidence on the part of both village and staff tasar silkworm rearers.
Having started at ground zero, the local skill base has increased dramatically due to the abilities of the keen and committed technical staff. As they learn they impart their new knowledge and skills to the village rearers and as a result the level of productivity has mushroomed -- a 500% increase in output of cocoons was accomplished with an 11% decrease in rearing time. The quality of the product -- the percentage of cocoons suitable for seed purposes -- also increased by 33%. These achievements resulted in income increases of 16.5% benefiting the rearers. Quality, as well as improved quantity was demonstrated when sample cocoons sent to Bihar for reeling produced grade A thread.
The importance of these achievements on the technical and production fronts are being transferred to the social and biological fronts as the villagers actually begin to see for themselves that the oak forests do have an economic value to them far beyond traditional subsistence uses and that caring and conserving such resources are important to the well-being of the entire community.
Challenges
We are still facing difficulties in securing adequate technical assistance in bee-keeping and honey processing, which has resulted in these activities lagging behind the tasar silk production.
But the major problem remains one of tenure. The ultimate control of the forests and forest resources still largely rests in the hands of the government and not in the hands of the people who are directly involved and affected. We are coming to learn that even those institutions that purport to promote local control of resources are dealing with severe restrictions. For example, the Van Panchyats (village forest governing bodies) theoretically have control over the use and management of village forests, but their financial resources are controlled by the Revenue Department. This means that the funds generated by sale of wood, grazing rights to outsiders, fines and other fees are not at the disposal of the Van Panchyat, but rather are under the control of the Revenue Department, which takes most of the funds for its own purposes. This arrangement is a serious disincentive for the villagers who feel that they don't really have control over their resources even where institutional arrangements would seem to imply that they do. So the policy issues loom large.
Author: Jack Croucher is an Institutional Advisor who initiated this particular project in 1993. Jack was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Garhwal area in the mid-1960's and has maintained strong ties and commitments to the people of Garhwal since his Peace Corps days.
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