Eco Development Societies – A Wild Story

When India launched a mega project to preserve the Wildlife Sanctuaries in a better way , the major concern was the people already living inside the forests. As they were not much exposed to the normal living standards such as education and job opportunities, it was not easy for the Forest Departments to evacuate them from the forests. Tourism paved a partial way out by creating Eco Development Societies through which many of the tribal community members were given training and became safari and trekking guides as they know the forest very well. Gradually they have been re habilitated to better living standards and now they have become
the part of the normal society and the only ones allowed to do harvesting from the forest without affecting the eco system.

Later a Forest Development Agency ( FDA ) came into existence to ensure the right price to the products either collected from the forests like honey etc or the crops they started cultivating in their new lands. These communities nowadays cultivate many varieties of healthy grains and pulses which are not common in our markets. Also the patent for Marayoor Jaggery belongs to these communities.

We are trying to give these communities a better opportunity and a wider market to expand the marketing of their products so that they will have more enthusiasm to bring out more endemic or even extinct healthy supplements to our present generation. We were amazed to listen to the stories what the leaders of such Societies are doing to preserve the traditional farming methods and unknown species of food items they produce. FDA even have started a “ Seed Bank “ to gather exclusive variety of crops so that the seasonal diversity could be maintained to ensure a 12 months crop feature.

By buying these products, you are making sure that you eat the best natural and healthy products and also supporting our eco system to keep its diversity and vibrance in farming. Unfortunately many of the displayed products will be seasonal and limited in quantity and hence some orders may be kept for availability and will be informed to you on the same.