This project is co-financed by the European Community.

The project is working with communities in several villages spread over almost all distinct valleys and agro-climatic zones in the high altitude Himalayan belt in India comprising: Zanskar, Nubra, Changthang and Central Leh in the Ladakh region, Lahaul, Spiti and Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh, Chamoli and Uttarkashi in Uttaranchal and North Sikkim and Tawang in NE India.

Conservation of MAP Resources

Mapping & Threat Assessment of Herbal Wealth ~ Recognizing the need for scientific data gathering & documentation in order to ensure appropriate conservation planning and action, the project began with a mammoth and first-of-its-kind activity, that of mapping the herbal wealth of the Himalayan cold deserts. Comprehensive vegetative mapping was carried out with intensive community collaboration and expert advice from traditional healers (amchis/vaids). The activity also involved networking and liaison with the local administration as well as with several research institutes. Regional CAMPs (Community Conservation Assessment and Management Plan workshops) helped validate ground survey findings, establish the status of habitats and species, and develop the conservation management strategies.

Conservation Awareness ~ The project follows a ‘community-inclusive’ approach in conservation. One of the important, continual activities in the project therefore is the awareness building among and mobilizing of local communities for the purpose of conservation of the herbal wealth of the target region. Innovative communication techniques like poster campaigns, educational pamphlets and rallying slogans have also been used for this purpose, apart from awareness & mobilization sessions.

Community Institutions for Conservation ~ Community Conservation Councils have been constituted in every target valley towards local level stake building in conservation and these groups are being facilitated to undertake conservation actions on identified sites of medicinal plants concentration and to monitor the herbal wealth status, protecting them from collectors, animals and pastoralists. Methods like social fencing and restricted grazing and fodder collection have been successful in checking degradation and conserving the medicinal plants on these lands. Wastelands are also being ‘greened’ through planting of the hardier species of medicinal plants.

MAP Cultivation & MAP-Based Livelihoods

Herb Orphanage cum Nurseries (HONs) & Greenhouses ~ A critical bottleneck in the implementation of the conservation through cultivation mode is the inadequacy of planting material of the target species. Several Herb Orphanage cum Nurseries, in the nature of field genebanks, have therefore been set up covering every distinct altitudinal zone and valley. These HONs are working on protecting and researching on the rare, endemic species of the particular area, as well as on mass propagation of select high value species for distribution of saplings to farmers. Some of these HONs have also been fitted with greenhouses using passive solar construction techniques that help extend the propagation period into the winters.

Cultivation Training and Medplants Microplantations ~ The project has been popularizing the ex-situ conservation strategy of ‘conservation through cultivation’ for medicinal & aromatic plants. As a result of Pragya efforts, medicinal plants are being cultivated in the villages of Nubra, Changthang and Zanskar in Ladakh, Lahaul & Spiti and Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh, North Chamoli in Uttaranchal, Lachen and Lachung in Sikkim and West Kameng and Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. Several farmers and traditional healers (137) have been assisted in setting up micro-plantations of medicinal plants at altitudes ranging from 9,000 ft. to 16,000 ft. Some of the species being cultivated are: Aconitum heterophyllum, Picrorhiza kurrooa, Dactylorrhiza hatagirea. All early growers are being intensively assisted with planting and technical inputs by the project. Plant growth and harvest quality is monitored by farmers and Pragya experts, collaboratively. Several training programmes have been conducted- demonstration training sessions at the local level as well as, periodic formal programmes involving theoretical inputs and exposure visits. An all-Himalayas medplants stakeholders’ seminar was conducted with the involvement of forest departments of all project districts and several research institutions, as well as representatives of the herbal industry. As the established plantations show signs of success, more growers are coming forward to take up MAP cultivation.

Women’s Home Gardens ~ Recognising women as the key repositories of knowledge on aromatic, spice and dye plants, the project supports them in undertaking cultivation of these species in the backyards of their houses. Several Mahila Mandals (women‘s councils) have taken up this programme and enlisted all their members in it. Self-Help-Groups of women kitchen gardeners have also been established. The women’s SHGs of the three villages of Lata, Tolma and Merag, are especially enthusiastic and have taken up cultivation of several species including- Allium carolianium, Carum carvi, Thymus serpyllum. In Arunachal, the anis (nuns) of Bramdungchung Gompa are also initiating cultivation of aromatics in the gompa land.

Growers’ Cooperatives ~ The growers are also being networked for facilitating collaborative endeavour and market strength towards ensuring fair trade. The first-ever cooperative for medicinal plants growers has been established in Lahaul in the Western Himalayan region and similar cooperatives are being set up in other areas as well. A market survey has been conducted and the cooperatives are being facilitated with linkages to big buyers.

Preservation of Traditional Ethno-medicinal-botanic Knowledge

Strengthening Traditional Healers ~ The traditional healers of the region who follow either the Tibetan or the Ayurvedic systems of medicine, are the key repositories of medicinal plants related knowledge in the target area. This sub-group is being assisted to preserve the local ethno-medicinal-botanic knowledge. Capacity building measures are aimed at upgrading their skills and constituting associations for combined action and support & advocacy. The amchiis of Lahaul valley have been constituted into a Lahaul Amchii Society and the vaids of Chamoli have formed a registered association as well. This has helped revitalise the traditional system of medicine with more healers returning to the practice of traditional medicine and a resurgence of faith in the system among the users as well. Facilitating these groups to undertake ITK protective action is also planned.

Ethnobotanic Centre ~ The project also seeks to preserve and revitalize the socio-cultural value of the medicinal & aromatic plants. An extensive survey of the ethnic knowledge and uses of the plants has been carried out and the information displayed through the mode of Ethnobotanic Museums. An Ethnobotanic Museum has been set up in Yurnath in Lahaul in the Western Himalayas and two more such museums, one for the Central Himalayas and another for the Eastern Himalayas are under way. The museum is a part of a complex that will in time include a Traditional Health Centre where traditional healers would treat patients and a Herbal Garden of medicinal plants.

Research Station for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

The Pragya team, while mobilising and educating the local communities of the Himalayan region, discovered the serious gap in terms of research and training support for medicinal plants of the high altitude Himalayan region and the bottleneck of planting material availability for cultivation. In order to plug this gap a Research Station has been established in Palchan (2100 metres above sea level) near Manali. The facility is equipped with a seed technology laboratory for seed treatment and controlled propagation, comprising a seed drier, germinator, a distillation unit, and the like. The research station is also equipped with a model nursery with 2 trench greenhouses and 1 passive solar greenhouse, complete with temperature and humidity controls and mist chambers as well as several beds of medicinal and aromatic plants.

The research station is aimed to facilitate the following:

• Domestication of and development of agronomic practices for indigenous medicinal and aromatic plants
• Production of seeds and other propagating materials of select genotypes of domesticated medicinal and aromatic plants
• Screening and analysis of medicinal and aromatic plants to determine the chemical constituents and their active principles
• Quality assurance, grading and standardisation of plant extracts towards addressing issues of adulteration and informal markets
• Development of appropriate rural technologies for management of plant material, including storage, testing and processing
• Documenting research results and disseminating information on conservation and cultivation of medicinal & aromatic plants