Applied
Environmental
Research
Foundation
Green Entrepreneurship
CONSERVING FORESTS, BIODIVERSITY AND LIVELIHOODS AMONG FOREST-DEPENDANT COMMUNITIES USING CERTIFIED VALUE CHAIN APPROACH
AERF'S INTERVENTIONS & MILESTONES
20
Forest-based value chains developed across India
4
Blocks in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh part of enterprise development
500+
Community members trained to be certified collectors
8
National and International certifying bodies involved annually
1st
and only FAIRWILD certified value chains in India
PROGRAMME GOALS & ACTIVITIES
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Conduct resource assessments based on thorough biodiversity surveys in conserved forests to understand all possible NTFP based value chains within the geography.
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Adding value to the value chain through international and national certifications and build capacity of the communities through regular protocol training in resource collection and processing.
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Bring technological advancements and develop infrastructure required for optimising the processes in the most sustainable manner.
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Uphold the sustainability metrics of the enterprise each year through strict certification audits and compliances.
One major challenge we face in conservation of private forests is the apathy the landowners have towards their resource, which results in them falling prey to logging contractors. Changing this perspective is critically important and that starts with us creating sustainable value from standing forests. NTFP value chains is one effective way to make that happen. Our explorations into this started way back in 2010 when we did extensive surveys to understand the traditional livelihoods of the forest-dependant communities around our conserved forests. Fruits and seed collection was a big part of it, but was dwindling due to inaccessibility to a paying market, dependance on middlemen and lack of skill building in the younger generations. Since then, we have effectively completed extensive resource assessments of various species, understood their market relevance and value and increased the earning potential of the community through their sustainable harvesting by bringing in international certifications like Organic, FairWild, Fair For Life etc. The capacity building involved in the process is critical in building and maintaining the traditional skills of the community whilst also developing additional skills rrelated to running a sustainable business.
Charting the progress and impact of our first 2 certified value chains - Hartiaki (Terminalia chebula) and Bibhitaki (Terminalia bellerica)
We have been helped by many partnerships to make this strategy a reality on the ground. Here is how...
Project Partner :
Project: Promoting green entrepreneurship and positive incentives for biodiversity conservation, climate security and sustainable livelihoods in the northern Western Ghats
Year: 2016 - 2019
Programme-specific Focus : Develop value chains, develop necessary infrastructure for the same and create market linkages.
Milestones:
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These value chains were extensively developed through this partnership - Haritaki (Terminalia chebula), Bibhitaki (Terminalia bellirica), Karanj (Pongamia pinnata), Beeja (Pterocarpus marsupium), Bamboo, Shatavari, Guduchi.
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3 processing facilities were developed for capacity expansion - one in Bhimashankar for Haritaki, one in Alibaug for Karanj oil seeds and another in Talmachi for Haritaki
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30 villages involved in the project with over 200 community members finding direct monetary benefits and employment opportunities for over 150 days annually.
Project Partner :
Project: Healthy forests, healthy people, healthy climate - an initiative for biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihood in Northern Western Ghats.
Year: 2016 - 2019
Programme-specific Focus : Develop value chains and create market linkages.
Milestones:
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Since 2013, AERF has been working on the FairWild certification scheme which would provide higher income to the communities and thus stimulate their interest in sustainable collection of non-timber forest produce. In 2015, AERF became the first organisation in all of South Asia to receive FairWild certification.
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In the Daikin supported collection area, the communities collect the fruits of Bibhitaki (Terminalia bellirica) which are large trees providing nesting sites to important birds such as honrbills.
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Under this initiative, 15 families are engaged in and benefit from sustainable collection while about 300 Terminalia bellirica trees have been saved.
Project Partner :
Project: Building resilient landscapes and communities for climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation in the northern Western Ghats.
Year: 2019 - 2022
Programme-specific Focus : Develop agroforestry sites linked to biodiversity conservation, preservation of traditional crop varieties and climate-change adaptation
Milestones:
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Understanding the clear relation between conserving agro-biodiversity and sustainable food supply, AERF with support of Earth Song Foundation, UK is trying to promote cultivation of traditional food crops in Sangameshwar block. The deterrent to this undertaking was not only the lack of market linkages, but also poor understanding of managing these crops.
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We studied and promoted crops that have assured market value and will bring abandoned agricultural fields under cultivation and thus making the soil productive, prevent land-use change to create more agricultural fields in place of forests.
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We worked on 6 sites with 7 farmers to cultivate Brahmi, Turmeric (Waigaon variety), Konkan red rice, sesame and ragi, kodo millet.
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While the enthusiasm and confidence of the farmers grew, we worked on establishing market linkages through our conservation enterprise called Nature Connect India Pvt. Ltd. which further fueled the mission.
Project Partner :
Project: Creating opportunities for market access trough certification of NTFPs in Chhattisgarh
Year: 2022 - 2023
Milestones:
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We conducted the resource assessment of 5 NTFPs - Terminalia chebula, Terminalia bellirica, Terminalia arjuna, Bosewellia serrata, Aegle marmelos across 4 Community Forest Resource Areas.
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We marked almost 5000 individuals of all 5 tree species in 186 grids of 1 hectare each.
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We mobilised the community through more than 40 meetings and could train 55 registered collectors in sustainable harvesting techniques of the 5 target NTFPs.
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We also revived long-lost traditional harvesting methods for Arjuna bark and Salai resin.
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In the year 2023, we facilitated the first ever USDA and Fairwild certification of these NTFPs in the CFR resource areas spread over 356 acres; and NPOP and NOP audits of over 4100 acres in partnership with Nature Connect India.
Project Partner :
Project: Integrating the Bamboo value chain from Velhe and the Haritaki value chain in Talmachi
Year: 2022
Milestones:
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When it came to setting up a certified Haritaki processing centre in our Talmachi, we decided to build it using completely sustainable building material and lead by example.
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We have long been trying to promote Bamboo as a mainstream building material and also developed a Bamboo value chain in the village of Velhe where extensive assessments indicated abundance of the resource.
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We sourced the bamboo from our Velhe site and built the entire superstructure of the Haritaki processing centre in Talmachi.
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We also made use of carbon-negative agro-bio panels developed by 'Strawcture Eco' for roofing and walls.
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This facility is FairWild Organic certified, utmost care was taken to fulfil the ecological requirements of the region during construction.
