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The rewarding ‘forty-nuts’ of the Suleiman mountains

Local community restores livelihood by conserving the ‘Chilgoza’ forest

By UNDP in Pakistan

December 20^th, 2019

Everywhere in the world, indigenous people and local communities depend on natural resources and biodiversity for their livelihood. They hold indigenous knowledge passed over generations on weather patterns, and on what to sow and harvest according to the seasons. It is this knowledge that allows them to live in harmony with the land. However, the dependency on nature to meet their livelihood also means that climate change and bio-diversity losses exacerbate their poverty. One such story is from Suleiman Mountains, where the local community conserves the Chilgoza forest to conserve biodiversity, and restore their livelihood.

The rewarding ‘forty-nuts’ of the Suleiman mountains

The Suleiman Mountains are the southern extension of the Hindu Kush range, located in northern Balochistan and south of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces of Pakistan. The world’s largest pine nuts (Pinus gerardiana) forests are cradled amongst these mountains. Loaded with antioxidants, these pine nuts, called Chilgoza in Urdu which literally means "forty-nut", are incredibly tedious to gather. Pine trees do not grow densely and are spread over a wide area. The actual pine seeds are found in the pinecones and take about eighteen months to mature.

The Chilgoza forest is significant as it supports the biodiversity, ecosystem and also livelihood of the communities. The Shirani tribe, who share the provincial border between Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, own most of these forests in Pakistan. The forest is also home to the endangered Suleiman Markhor (mountain goat). As the forests lie on the tribal belt, they lack administrative and legal cover for protection. The Shirani tribe is further divided into sub-tribes with the tribal elders having the power of making decisions.

The past few decades have seen illegal harvesting in the Chilgoza Forest as well as trees being cut down for timber. Pine nuts are one of the most expensive nuts in the world but the local community lacked knowledge of collecting skills and marketing practices. Thus, they remained at the mercy of the middleman and not getting a fraction of what they could be earning. As an alternative livelihood option, they started cutting the pine trees for timber to sell in the market.

It is no secret that deforestation negatively impacts biodiversity and the ecosystem. WWF- Pakistan identified this looming threat to the area and contacted the Shirani sub-tribes to convince them to endorse a conservation agreement. When the initial attempt failed to reach a consensus to promote collective efforts within the tribes, WWF-Pakistan started galvanizing efforts to work with individuals who would champion conversations on conservation. This series of efforts led to forming a community-based conservation organization, under the umbrella of Kasa Ghar cluster.

Kasa Ghar’s mission was not to just to conserve natural resources of the area but to also improve the livelihood standard of the community. The Kasa Ghar organizations eventually brought 240 ha area of forest under improved management. The conservation efforts included controlled grazing, plantation of woodlots, and cultivation of Chilgoza trees. Along with that, the community was trained to adopt the most effective ways of collection, roasting, sorting, packaging and labelling practices, along with exposure visits to the markets. Processing units were also established to encourage the local community to be a part of the entire value-chain. These interventions led to an increase in income of 85 households while the Chilgoza tree cutting was reduced by 25%. There has also been a significant increase in the population of Suleiman Markhor.

Based on their efforts to restore deforestation, conserve biodiversity, and restore livelihood for the community, Kasa Ghar Cluster were one of the winners from Balochistan, Pakistan for Equator Prize in 2019. This blog is dedicated to their journey to success!

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The Equator Initiative is a multi-sector partnership that brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, and grassroot organisations. Equator Initiative partnership has been working to recognize and advance local and indigenous efforts that reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. UNDP is one of the partners that support the initiative that calls to strengthen the power of indigenous knowledge, highlight the role of local civil society groups in using indigenous knowledge to manage natural resources, and to conserve and maintain eco-systems. This is achieved through Equator Initiative’s “Equator Prize”, awarded biennially to recognise and advance local sustainable development solutions.