Saving the camel through dung

A post on DAD-Net alerts us to a successful attempt to halt the decline in camel numbers in Rajasthan (not that the problem is completely resolved, as another post points out).

A five year effort by an Indian non-government organisation to halt the decline of the camel population in Western Rajasthan (India) has borne fruit: in the district of Jaisalmer, where the project is located, camel numbers increased by 26.5% between 2006 and 2011. In all other districts of Rajasthan, the camel population continued its quick decline, according to the latest government data. Camel breeders attributed the increase in their herds to a variety of interventions by the project: Quick response to disease outbreaks and easy availability of genuine medicines to control diseases, such as mange — a highly contagious skin ailment that can lead to death if neglected. Other measures were the prosecution of camel thefts by a task force and prevention of accidents between camels and cars by the setting up of road signs. An important aspect was a change in perception about the economic potential of camels, as the project that is implemented by Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan and supported by the Ford Foundation placed emphasis on developing a range of new products from the camel. These include camel milk and ice cream, as well as luxury items made from camel wool, such as shawls, bags, caps and rugs. These products are in various stages of reaching the market. A third product is “Biocultural paper” which is actually paper made from camel dung that contains the seeds and fibres of up to 36 plants that camels graze on. A factory for this handmade paper will be inaugurated in Sadri (Rajasthan) on 16th March in the presence of various dignitaries and media persons.

Ilse Koehler-Rollefson of the League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development, and the director of LPP’s Indian organization Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan, Hanwant Singh Rathore, describe some of these efforts to market camel products in this video.

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