Report on the Lantana Craft alternate livelihood project at Lokkere Village, Bandipura, Karnataka
This project forms part of the project titled "Integrated project for lantana management, restoration of scrub forest ecosystem and alternate livelihoods at Lokkere Reserve Forest, Bandipura" implemented by Paadhai and Junglescapes Charitable Trust during 2013-14 under the CEPF-ATREE Western Ghats Small Grants Program
Prepared by Ramesh Venkataraman Project Investigator February 2015 Email: [email protected]
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Abstract
Background
Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR) is one India's premier tiger sanctuaries located in the Western Ghats, a global bio-diversity hot spot. The Lokkere Reserve Forest is adjacent Bandipur Tiger Reserve and is a valuable buffer habitat for the main tiger reserve. A number of forest dwelling communities live on the periphery of BTR, within the formally declared 'Eco- sensitive Zone' of the tiger reserve. Community members own small parcels of agricultural land which are mostly uncultivated due to water scarcity and frequent crop raids by wild animals. The villagers depend on daily wages earned from temporary and seasonal employment in nearby private agricultural farms.
Objectives of the project
The Lantana Craft project is a part of the CEPF-ATREE project titled ""Integrated project for lantana management, restoration of scrub forest ecosystem and alternate livelihoods at Lokkere Reserve Forest, Bandipura". The overall project aims to integrate the restoration of forest habitats affected by Lantana camara with alternate livelihoods for local communities based on the restoration activity as well as through hand craft making using the removed Lantana camara as raw material. The craft aspect of the project aims at piloting a sustainable livelihood avenue through a new, non-traditional activity that is closely aligned with ecological conservation. Other elements of the project are establishing effective market linkages for the sale of the craft products, building capabilities for self-management among the community members, and creation of an identity for the products.
Findings
The project results show that forest dwelling communities are keen to attempt new and non-traditional alternate livelihood options. Their ability to learn the technical skills needed for the activity is good. Apart from opening up an alternate livelihood opportunity, the activity has significant self-esteem and capacity-building benefits for the participants, particularly for women. Multiple marketing avenues have been explored with varying results. The creation of a brand identity for such products is a key positive outcome of the project. While there is good untapped potential for sale of such products, communities will need continued external support on the marketing and supply chain management aspects. Frameworks for self-management are simple to create but migration to a full self- management model is a challenge and the process may take 1-2 years.
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List of acronyms:
BTR: Bandipur Tiger Reserve
RF: Reserve Forest
PA: Protected Area
ATREE: Ashoka Trust for Research on Ecology and the Environment
NGO: Non-governmental Organisation
SHG: Self Help Group
ESZ: Eco-sensitive zone
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Table of contents
1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………… 5 1.1 Project Outline …………………………………………………………………………. 5 1.2 Project Objectives ……………………………………………………………………. 7 2. Project Methodology ………………………………………………………………….. 8 3. Project implementation – outcomes v objectives……………………… 9 4. Key concerns areas ………………………………………………………….. 18 5. Key learnings ………………………………………………………………………………. 19 6. Conclusions …………………………………………………………………………………. 20 7. Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………….. 21 8. Appendix 1: Financial summary ……………………………………………….. 22
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1. Introduction
1.1 Project Outline
The Lantana Craft project is an integral part of the overall CEPF-ATREE project titled ""Integrated project for lantana management, restoration of scrub forest ecosystem and alternate livelihoods at Lokkere Reserve Forest, Bandipura". While the lantana management and restoration of scrub forest ecosystem parts of the project involve removal of Lantana camara (refer para 1.1.1 below for details of the Lantana camara threat) and restoration of such removed sites, the alternate livelihood part of the project involves creation of an alternate livelihood option based on the making of hand crafts using the removed lantana as raw material.
1.1.1 The Lantana camara threat
Lantana camara is an invasive and exotic weed species that was brought to India by the British in the early 19th century. It is now one of the main eco-system threats in large parts of the Western Ghats. It is estimated that around 50% of BTR is invaded by this invasive species in various degrees of density, impacting bio-diversity significantly. Lantana is a prodigious flower and seed producing species that colonizes vast areas rapidly, with multiple adverse impacts i.e. • The bottom and middle-storey vegetation in Lantana-affected areas are occupied entirely by Lantana, pushing out native shrub and grass species and also inhibiting creation of fresh stock of woody species. This directly impacts food availability for herbivores like deer, gaur and elephants within the forest, and potentially lead to increased wildlife raids on agricultural fields as a result. • High degree of colonization by Lantana camara deprives the forest ecosystems of bio-diversity of both of flora and multi-flora dependent fauna. • Lantana leads to significant degeneration of the soil and hydrological systems. • Concentrations of dry lantana bushes pose a serious fire risk during the summer months. The spread of forest fires in such habitats is rapid and difficult to control.
1.1.2 Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR)
BTR is one of the earliest tiger reserves set up (1973) under India’s Project Tiger program. It lies in the Western Ghats, a global bio-diversity hot spot. BTR is contiguous with three other major tiger reserves – Nagarhole, Mudumalai and Wynad – which together form the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (5500 sq kms), one of the largest protected conservation areas in India. BTR has rich bio-diversity of flora and fauna in addition to good tiger density and also a high density of wild elephants (Elephas maximus). It is one of the identified critical site
Junglescapes Charitable Trust, Bangalore, India Page 5 outcomes under the CEPF Western Ghats assessment 2012. BTR covers an area of 1020 sq kms, consisting of 872 sq kms of core area and 148 sq kms of buffer zone.
1.1.3 Lokkere Reserve Forest
The Lokkere RF falls in the buffer zone of BTR and covers an area of around 6.50 sq kms. It is contiguous with BTR at its south-western end and therefore provides valuable incremental habitat for wild animals. It is one of the migratory routes from BTR to the forests of the Eastern Ghats and is used regularly by wild animals during dry summer months to migrate towards water sources. Lokkere RF has a mix of dry deciduous and scrub forest eco-systems. Anthropogenic pressure over a fairly long period of time due to the presence of a number of villages at its periphery - with cattle grazing and collection of fuel wood being the major reasons – has resulted in a high degree of degradation.
Image of Lokkere Reserve Forest in relation to BTR
1.1.4 Eco-sensitive zone (ESZ)
ESZs are designated areas around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries up to a distance of 10 kms from the periphery of the PA. An ESZ is meant to accord a higher degree of protection for the PA by acting as ‘shock absorbers’, protect vital corridor links and to prevent isolation of fragments of bio-diversity in these zones. Eco-unfriendly commercial and economic activities are either prohibited or regulated in the ESZs. BTR was one of the first national parks in India to notify an ESZ in 2012.
1.1.5 Local communities and livelihoods
Almost all local communities of BTR live in the ESZ. A majority of these are erstwhile forest dwelling communities consisting of indigenous people like like Solegas and Jenu Kurubas that were resettled from inside the protected area to villages outside during the formation of the national park. Land holding is small and most land parcels lie uncultivated due to a
Junglescapes Charitable Trust, Bangalore, India Page 6 variety of factors – low rainfall, lack of resources for irrigation and crop raid by wild animals being the main ones. As a result most community members depend on temporary farm jobs in nearby private farms for their livelihood, which are seasonal and fraught with uncertainty related to monsoons. Non-tribal communities have now started actively seeking seasonal employment in coffee and tea plantations in adjacent States like Kerala and Tamilnadu. However, this trend is not seen among tribal communities like Jenu Kurubas who prefer to work close to their settlements.
1.1.6 About Junglescapes and Paadhai
Junglescapes is a non-profit that has been working on wildlife conservation initiatives (www.junglescapes.org) in the Western Ghats area since 2007. The NGO follows a community participative model of conservation wherein all projects are carried out with the active involvement of local communities. This provides conservation-based alternate livelihoods for the community members that are sustainable. Also, this helps build a win- win and collaborative relationship between these communities and the ecology and wildlife that surrounds them. Paadhai is a non-profit NGO that works on social projects involving health, education and environment, with a focus on development of under-privileged people. Paadhai joined hands with Junglescapes for implementation of this CEPF project, with the latter handling the ground level implementation.
1.2 Project Objectives
The main objectives of the project were as below: a. Create a sustainable “green economy” model that is based on alternate livelihoods for local communities built around habitat restoration and conversion of lantana into marketable products. Conservation-oriented alternate livelihoods are critical to protect eco-systems from human pressures in a scenario where employment opportunities are limited and most local communities live below the poverty line. b. Develop value chains for naturally sourced products, to expand the economic value of forests for local communities and connect them with green economies. c. Build capabilities within the community for sustaining the alternate livelihood option beyond the project period. d. Explore and test opportunities for leveraging financial support for conservation, community and private reserves from public and private sector sources, with a particular emphasis on financial incentives for local communities to manage natural ecosystems sustainably.
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2. Project implementation methodology
2.1 Selection of community group
Discussions were held with two village communities – Lokkere and Guddukere – about the project. Both these communities had been working on conservation projects of Junglescapes over the past four years. The Lokkere community was more interested in the hand craft activity while the Guddukere community showed greater interest in the lantana management and restoration activities. Interestingly, the communities had did not have a tradition of activities like basket weaving and therefore no prior experience of any craft making. However, the Lokkere community had a high level of enthusiasm for an alternate livelihood that promised them new skills and self-reliance.
2.2 Selection of members for the craft activity
The craft activity was thrown open initially to the women of the Lokkere village. It was decided to focus on women as this activity was physically less demanding and more suited to them as compared to habitat restoration activities. Also, it was expected that this would empower them by giving them the option of working close to their homes and enabling them to work flexible timings and take care of their families. Discussions were held with the village women who showed a high degree of enthusiasm for the project. No qualifying criteria were prescribed and no limitations were placed on the number of participants. The main requirement prescribed was the ability to participate in the training continuously without interruption during the training period of 6-8 weeks. As the project progressed the members expressed the need to induct a couple of men who could handle some of the more intensive parts of the craft process. Therefore a male member was inducted in the second month of training.
2.3 Earnings during training
An earnings model for the trainees consisting of a stipend and an attendance incentive was formulated for the training period. This was considered essential since trainees would have to forego their normal employment options which would impact their family income. The attendance incentive helped in ensuring consistent participation and avoiding absenteeism. The stipend and the attendance incentive together was equal to the opportunity cost of the trainees i.e. their normal earnings from working in nearby farms. Sale proceeds of products made during the training period were routed back to the training for purchase of consumables like paints, varnish, nails, etc.
2.4 Identification of resources for training
ATREE, a leading environmental non-profit based in Bangalore, has been pioneering a Lantana craft program for over 10 years with indigenous communities in the Eastern Ghats
Junglescapes Charitable Trust, Bangalore, India Page 8 region of South India. They have a structured training module for providing training on lantana craft. Support was therefore obtained from ATREE for deputing a master trainer for providing training to the women of Lokkere village.
2.5 Identification of products
Lantana craft consists of two groups of products – large furniture items like sofas, chairs, etc. and small hand craft items like key chain or candle stands, baskets, etc. Based on discussions with the trainee group it was decided to initially focus on the small hand craft products like pen/candle/key chain stands, because these would be easier to learn for these first-time craft makers. Also, it was felt that marketing of these products would be easier as the unit selling price was significantly lower compared to the larger products. It was decided that once an adequate level of expertise was gained on these products, larger items like chairs could be attempted.
2.6 Segregation of lantana management and craft activities
It was decided to segregate the lantana management and craft activities to ensure process integrity in both. Entrusting lantana removal to the craft persons had the risk of wrong removal practices being used and also sporadic removal in disconnected plots. Handling of removal by a dedicated team helped ensure that prescribed removal methods were adhered to and also complete removal in identified contiguous plots. The removed lantana was planned to be transported in tractors to the craft location twice a week.
2.7 Establishing market linkages
Market linkages were explored both at a local level and at an urban level. At the local level the target customers consisted of local resorts (products for their own use as well as referrals to their guests), the forest department (products for use in their offices, guest houses and tourism facilities), and local stores selling wildlife souvenir products and nearby villagers. At the urban level, corporates and individuals were targeted. The methodology for developing a value chain included creating a distinct identity for the products, a communication strategy and a pricing model.
3. Project outcomes vs objectives
3.1 Objective: Creation of a sustainable “green economy” model that is based on alternate livelihoods for local communities built around habitat restoration and conversion of lantana into marketable products
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3.1.1 Imparting technical skills The first round of training in Lantana craft was conducted during June-July 2014 for a period of 6 weeks. A group of 8 women attended the training. Details of the training are as under:
• The training was based on a formal methodology designed by ATREE. The training was provided by a trainer from MM Hills with over 5 years of experience in Lantana craft. • Tools and equipment needed for training were advised by ATREE and were procured from the project budget. • A formal inauguration of the Lantana Craft training was done on 1 July 2014. The inauguration was done by Mr H.C. Kantharaju, Conservator of Forests and Director, BTR. Mr Kantharaju spoke to the trainees and promised support for their activity from the Forest Department. This was very helpful and allayed apprehensions of the trainees about the ability to collect lantana from the forest.
Inauguration of training Training in progress
Training in progress Training in progress • The training covered the entire process of craft making from Lantana covering aspects of preparation of the raw Lantana, making of unfinished craft items and final finishing of the craft items. A total of 7 simple and easy-to-make products were initially selected for training.
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• The focus during the training period was mainly on imparting the technical skills for manufacture of the products, and related aspects like quality control and raw material specifications. • Each of the trainees received a stipend of Rs 100 per day and an attendance incentive of Rs 50 per day based on attendance for at least 6 days a week. • A good level of technical proficiency was achieved by the trainees at the end of the training period. This was achievable mainly because of the effective training methodology developed by ATREE which placed a high emphasis on keeping the process simple and non-threatening to the trainees. This also helped the trainees gain confidence in their own abilities to adapt to this new activity. • The first phase of training was ended on 31 July 2014 based on feedback from the trainer as well as from the trainees that they were capable of making these 7 products independently.
3.1.2 Building business skills The actions taken to develop the business skills of the group post the completion of training were as below:
• A self-help group was formed for the lantana craft activity. The SHG was registered and a separate bank account opened. • Discussions were held with the SHG members on the way forward. While some of the members wanted to continue on a daily wage method or remuneration, a majority expressed a desire for a variable remuneration based on output. The idea of running this as an independent enterprise with responsibility for profit or loss was discussed with the group. However they were reluctant to move to an independent model because of lack of familiarity with aspects like product costing, accounting, etc. They decided to adopt a hybrid model until the group gained confidence to handle these aspects. • The hybrid model consisted of a payment to the group based on output. An interest- free working capital loan was given to the group for purchase of bought-out raw materials. The working capital was to be repaid over a period of time from sale proceeds. The group was comfortable with this model since they would be able to compute their earnings based on the weekly output. This model has been working till the date of this report. • The price of individual products was determined through a process of discussion with the group on what buyers would be prepared to pay for the product. Once the price was determined, the cost of bought-out materials like nails and varnish were deducted to arrive at the net amount available per unit sold towards the group’s remuneration. A reality check was done to see that this net amount matched the effort put in, and moderation done where there was a significant variation. The
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group recognized that sales were price elastic and therefore had to be kept attractive and productivity increased to improve earnings. • The group was also encouraged to negotiate and fix prices for products with buyers directly. This was done to give them a good understanding of negotiation and also how buyers evaluate the prices. As a result of these experiences the group revised some of the earlier set prices downwards. Interestingly, in most instances the group tended to fix selling prices conservatively in order not to lose orders. • Efforts were successfully taken to reduce the cost of raw materials through sourcing from wholesalers in Mysore and also by substituting some high cost materials like paint with cheaper alternatives. These were discussed with the group at each stage. • At the time of this report, the group is reasonably well versed in aspects like pricing, cost of raw materials and the variable remuneration.
3.1.3 Building selling skills The following initiatives were taken to build the selling skills of the group.
• A retail outlet has been set up at the Junglescapes’ field station at Lokkere, which is managed by the craft group. The retail outlet has regular walk-in customers which gives the members an opportunity of interacting with the buyers and learn selling skills. • Information about the craft centre has been shared with local resorts and NGOs. This has created walk-in customers from time to time. • The SHG was encouraged to participate in a Habba (rural exhibition) held by the Karnataka Tourism department at Gundlupet in December 2014. A stall was put up for 4 days and the SHG members took turns managing the stall. • A large order from the Forest department at the beginning of the project helped the group learn skills on quality checks, order delivery, transportation, etc. This also gave them the opportunity to negotiate prices with the customer directly.
Readying products for despatch SHG women at Gundlupet Habba to the Forest department
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3.1.4 Intangible outcomes The project has created valuable intangible outcomes for the group as detailed below.
• Improvement in self-esteem. • Creation of self-confidence in handling a new non-traditional activity. This could have a significant positive impact on future alternate livelihood programs not only for this group but also for other groups living around BTR. • Empowerment of women and a significant change in the way they are perceived by the other villagers. • Team working skills. • Innovation and creativity as demonstrated by new product designs that the group has been able to come up without any outside prompting or help.
Jubilant women with their products New & innovative designs created along with trainer from MM Hills by the group
3.2 Objective: Develop value chains for naturally sourced products, to expand the economic value of forests for local communities and connect them with green economies
3.2.1 Creating an identity for naturally sourced products The following initiatives were taken to create an identity for naturally sourced products like the Lantana craft products. The creation of a strong identity and branding will build stronger value perceptions for the products leading to improved revenue streams in future.
• A brand name “Chital” has been identified for such products that are made by local communities. Use of this brand name shall be given free of charge to community groups making such products. • A brand logo has also been created depicting the inter-relationship between forests, conservation and local communities.
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Chital Logo
3.2.2 Communication materials Communication materials planned for the products are detailed below.
• Posters for the Lantana craft products have been prepared. These are planned to be used for display in local resorts, craft exhibitions, corporates where product sales are planned, etc. • A Facebook page named ‘Chital’ has been created. • A web site for ‘Chital’ is under construction and will show case the stories of community oriented livelihood groups as well as their products. The web site is expected to be ready by 31 March 2015.
Posters for communication
3.2.3 Sales channels Multiple sales channels have been explored, some of which have stabilised already. In the short term the focus has been on generating local sales where the logistics complexities are lower and access to customers is easier. These are detailed below.
• Retail outlet: A retail outlet has been set up at the Junglescapes’ field station at Lokkere, which is managed by the craft group. The retail outlet is seeing regular sales through walk-in customers.
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• Resorts: A well-known wildlife resort in Bandipur has shown interest to start a short-visit program to the craft centre for their guests. This is planned as a learning trip for the guests about Lantana and the craft activity and would serve as a good avenue for sustained sales. Local resorts have also been approached for orders for product requirements in guest rooms and a large order has been received from a report at the time of this report. • Forest department: Regular orders are being obtained from the BTR forest department for products like dust bins and teapoys for their offices, guest houses and tourist rooms. Sale of the products to them for use as gift items in conferences and workshops is also being explored. • Local souvenir shops: Sales through a local wildlife souvenir shop in Bandipur run by a non-profit named ‘The Mariamma Charitable Trust’ have commenced with good repeat orders. • Stalls at corporate offices in Bangalore: A stall was put up at the GE India Technology Centre in Bangalore during Environment Day with good success. Similar stalls are planned with other corporates in 2015. • Bulk Orders: Efforts are also being made to generate sales through bulk corporate orders for items like waste paper bins, sales through specialist hand craft outlets like TRIFED, etc. • Local Sales: Information about the craft centre has been provided to local resorts, NGOs, schools, etc. in and around Bandipur. • Other avenues: Sales through word-of-mouth publicity by Junglescapes members are yielding results. Creation of the web site and Facebook page (refer para 3.2.2) are expected to generate orders from urban customers.
Retail outlet at Lokkere Stall at GE Exhibition, Bangalore
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3.2.4 Fair Wild certification
Fair Wild is an organisation that certifies that products sourced from the wild have followed sustainable collection and harvesting practices. The objective is resource conservation and applies to products that involve exploitation of important natural resources e.g. wild honey. Fair Wild was approached for possibility of certification for the Lantana products. This is only one of two instances where they have been approached for certification related to an invasive species. They have referred this matter to their technical committee for advice on how Fair Wild standards are to be applied where clearance of an invasive species is involved, as opposed to conservation of a species. The technical committee has given an opinion in August 2015 that this can be taken up as a trial case. This will be progressed further.
3.3 Objective: Build capabilities within the community for sustaining the alternate livelihood option beyond the project period
3.3.1 Additional training and product range
Subsequent to the first round of training, three more rounds of training have been conducted till December 2014.
• An additional 7 persons have been trained. The availability of a larger group of around 15 trained crafts persons helps in ensuring sustained production activity since at any point of time only 50-60% of the persons are present. • Training has also been provided on new products like chairs. The expanded product range, some of them with high volume potential, enables the craft persons to cater to a wider cross section of customers and helps sustainability.
Good product portfolio Focus on products with high volume to help sustainability potential like waste paper baskets
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3.3.2 Lantana craft centre infrastructure
A Lantana craft centre has been started at Lokkere at the field station of Junglescapes, where working space has been provided to the craft persons free of rent. The lantana product retail outlet is also located in the same premises. The creation of this infrastructure was felt critical for sustaining the activity and also giving it higher visibility.
3.3.3 Continued support
Continued support is envisaged in the following areas for a period of at least 18-24 months to ensure sustainability.
• A basic level of skill and competency has been acquired by the group for handling some aspects of their new enterprise as detailed in para 3.1 above. Like any new venture, the group will need continued coaching and support to help them stabilise. This is particularly true as they are completely new to any form of manufacturing or business activity and their literacy levels are low. • The ability of the community group to canvas orders is limited. Marketing of the products is an area where external support will be essential. This will include continuing participation in exhibitions in cities and disseminating information through website and Facebook on where the products can be purchased. Simultaneously the ability of one or two community members to market the products shall be built to ensure sustainable marketing in future. • Junglescapes plans to continue to provide support on the above aspects for the next 18-24 months in order to help it sustain and also to help it to migrate to self- management. • The pricing of the product as discussed in para 3.1.2 above does not include the cost of removal of lantana which is handled by an independent group of community members (refer para 2.6), as well as cost of transportation of the removed lantana to the craft centre. Adequate funding for the lantana removal and transportation has to be ensured until such time the selling price of the products can cover this. This is discussed in more detail in para 3.4 below.
3.4 Objective: Explore and test opportunities for leveraging financial support for conservation, community and private reserves from public and private sector sources, with a particular emphasis on financial incentives for local communities to manage natural ecosystems sustainably.
The project has demonstrated significant potential for leveraging financial support from public and private sector sources for conservation with an emphasis on local communities.
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• The linkage of the lantana craft activity to the lantana removal and restoration activity has significantly strengthened the ability to raise funding for the latter from agencies like corporate CSR and funding NGOs. As a result, Jungescapes has been able to raise funds for lantana removal / restoration activities beyond the CEPF project period. • Support has also been obtained post the CEPF project period from corporate CSR sources, for related areas like creation of the craft centre infrastructure, putting up stalls at corporate offices, etc. • The activity is perceived as having multiple benefits like community development, women’s empowerment, etc. in addition to ecological conservation. Hence its attraction to funding and corporate CSR agencies is higher.
4. Key concern areas
4.1 Alternate job opportunities
Community members continuously compare earnings from the alternate livelihood with that of traditional job opportunities. Rural areas in states like Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala are facing an acute shortage of manpower. As a result wage levels during agricultural seasons are very high and seasonal movement of community members towards these jobs is unavoidable. This places pressure on continued availability of people resources for the Lantana craft activity. The ability of the alternate livelihoods to retain a core group of craft persons thus becomes critical.
4.2 Revenue sharing Revenue sharing among the craft group seems to be an area of contention between the members of the group. Differences of opinion on the value attributable to different parts of the manufacturing process, equal sharing between female and male members, etc. are some of the pressures points that have been observed. There are no simple solutions to these issues, and the implementation team has adopted a policy of leaving these to the craft group for resolution.
4.3 Dependence on Lantana The project has an inherent risk of dependence on Lantana camara which needs to be managed carefully. Care should be taken to this does not lead to protection of the species that is aimed to be removed. The following aspects need to be monitored for success of the project.
• The number of lantana craft communities within BTR should be planned carefully based on the extent of Lantana spread and raw material availability. The area
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affected by Lantana in BTR is quite vast and therefore if managed well the raw material availability for the craft activity would be for at least 9-10 years. • As proximate sources of Lantana get exhausted, the raw material may have to be transported over longer distances, involving added cost that will have to be budgeted. • Training of community members in some non-Lantana based alternate livelihoods can be considered to reduce high dependence on the Lantana based livelihood.
5. Key Learnings
5.1 Learning capability of community members
The project demonstrates the good ability and aptitude of forest dwelling communities to learn skills required for new alternate livelihoods. Interestingly, this learning ability is not linked to literacy levels. However, a correlation was observed between age and comfort level with the technical aspects of craft making, with participants below the age of 40 generally more comfortable.
5.2 Longer term involvement and support Alternate livelihood projects require hand holding and support to the community beyond the 12 months period typical of CEPF funded projects. Therefore the agencies undertaking such projects should have the ability for providing sustained support beyond the CEPF project time lines, either directly or through associate agencies. This aspect needs may need to be built into the project design. The length of such extended support envisaged for a lantana craft project is 24-30 months.
5.3 Allowing organic migration to self-management Communities may take longer than envisaged to migrate to a self-management model for such activities. This may need hybrid interim models to be innovated and applied, and flexibility provided for organic development. Pushing communities to a self-management model pre-maturely may lead to collapse of the activity.
5.4 Reiterating conservation messages Alternate livelihood projects need a strong educational component where conservation messages are reiterated to the community regularly. In the absence of this, there is a risk of the linkage being ignored and the activity carried out purely for economic reasons. This could impact sustainability of such projects.
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5.5 Stand-alone v integrated projects Such alternate livelihood projects have a higher chance of success when part of a larger project involving the community, rather than a stand-alone project. In this case under discussion, the Lantana craft and management projects are integral parts of the overall engagement of Junglescapes with the Lokkere village community on varied conservation initiatives. This has been an important success factor. 5.6 Project Costs The short term costs of implementing the project are quite nominal in relation to the benefits (refer Appendix 1 for a financial summary for the period June-December 2014). It can be seen that the cost of training per trainee is around Rs 9300 and the overall cost of the project is around Rs 200000 (US $ 3300). Post the initial 6-8 weeks of training the project is largely self-sustaining except for marketing costs. However, the agencies promoting the project have to be willing to invest in supervision and marketing efforts for at least 12-18 months and factor in the costs related to these (approximately Rs 240,000 per annum) in their project design.
6. Conclusions
6.1 Relevance to conservation
The project helps understand the relevance of alternate livelihoods that have a close linkage to ecological conservation to the achievement of desired habitat and eco-system outcomes. The project demonstrates that the Lantana craft activity helps significantly in bringing focus, attention and funding to the larger issue of Lantana management. Also, it helps build a strong collaborative relationship between local communities and the ecology.
6.2 Relevance to local communities The project shows that local communities are keen and enthusiastic to learn and adapt to new and non-traditional alternate livelihood opportunities. Apart from attractive incremental income potential, such livelihoods can play an important role in building capabilities and self-esteem. In particular, such projects have high potential for women’s empowerment.
6.3 Demand for conservation-oriented products The project results demonstrate that there is good demand for products that facilitate better wildlife conservation, provided there is a demonstrable linkage between the alternate livelihood activity and the conservation outcomes.
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6.4 Feasibility and viability Implementation of such projects is feasible, but requires innovative and out-of-the-box thinking on various aspects. As regards viability, in the short term such activities have the potential to recover direct costs of raw materials and labour, but marketing and supervisory costs may have to be met by the implementing agencies for 18-24 months. The viability may improve in the medium term with better visibility and branding, but this remains untested at the time of this report.
Acknowledgements
We would like to record our appreciation for the support extended to this project by the following individuals and groups: • Mr H.C. Kantharaju, Conservator of Forests and Director, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Bandipur, Karnataka, India • CEPF-ATREE Western Ghats Small Grants’ programme team, ATREE, Bangalore, India • ATREE Lantana Craft project team, Bangalore, India • Mr Murugesh, Master Trainer, MM Hills, India • The Mariamma Charitable Trust, Mangala Village, Gundlupet Taluk, India • Volunteer group of GE India Technology Centre, Bangalore, India • Mr CR Hanumanth and Mr Suranjan Mithra, Volunteers, Junglescapes Charitable Trust, Bangalore • Mr Nagendra and Mr Madhu, Field Workers, Junglescapes Charitable Trust, Bandipur
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Appendix 1: Financial Summary
S No Particulars Amount (Rs) 1 Training Costs Trainer’s fees for 3 rounds of training (50 days) 25000 Trainer’s stay expenses 6000 Stipend & attendance incentive to trainees 66000 Tools and equipment purchased 15000 Raw materials purchased during training period 15000 Field supervision costs 12000 Total training costs 139000 No of persons trained 15 Average cost of training per person 9266
2 Marketing expenses Logo design 4000 Poster design and printing 3000 Web site design 21000 Product tag printing costs 1000 Total marketing costs 29000
3 Other Costs SHG formation expenses 6000 Field trip costs 20000 Trainee participation in exhibitions 3000 Craft Centre inauguration function costs 5000 Total other costs 34000
TOTAL PROJECT COST 202000 TOTAL PROJECT COST (US $) (US $ = Rs 61) 3311
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