LEH: The scientists reached out to the remotest of the high land village of Sapi in Kargil, took scientific inputs on the ancient Amchi system of healing from villagers, taking stock of the depleting healing herbs of the Ladakh region for its revival and conservation under the project.
This came to the spotlight at the consultative meeting with the Village Community at Sapi in Kargil district of Ladakh UT under the Project activity of the NMPB funded project on 24rd July, 2022.
The meeting was organised by Himalayan Forest Research Institute (HFRI), Shimla, a regional research institute of Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education (ICFRE), Dehra Dun under the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change.
Home to a wide variety of herbal and medicinal plants, Sapi is the highest settlement in Kargil region.
Despite a death in the village, the meeting was attended by around 44 participants that also included women and local Amchi of the area.
In an ice-breaking initiative, Dr. Vaneet Jishtu, scientist from HFRI said unique medicinal flora of the region supports and sustains the livelihoods of a large populace of this area.
He said the ambitious objectives of the project are very timely. Institute in collaboration with the National Institute of Sowa Rigpa (NISR), Leh has shown seriousness for execution of this project that will go a long way in protecting the treasured medicinal plants.
The sessions aim at coming out with recommendations for taking this important subject ahead.
Dr Jishtu emphasized that local Amchi healers and the village community from the far-flung areas of Ladakh, will provide their valuable inputs on healing herbs of the trans-Himalaya for the project.
To strike chord with locals, the entire programme was narrated in local dialect by Ms. Hasina Bano, Research Scholar under the NMPB project.
The unique feature of this interactive meeting was that discussions were held in small groups. “This resulted in impressive first-hand information about the use of local plants”.
Panch of village Sapi said Amchi is a lifeline of local people. He highlighted the rich diversity of medicinal plants in his area and expressed his profound concern over this fast-depleting resource in the wild.
The participants were happy about the programme in their village. The project activity also envisaged augmentation of some important medicinal plants in the farmer’s field and requested the organisers to conduct such programmes on a regular basis.
Dr. Jishtu, gave a detailed presentation on various objectives of the NMPB project. He also highlighted the works of the collaborating Institute, NISR, Leh under the guidance of Dr. Padma Gurmet.
Dr Jishtu informed that the relevant suggestions provided will be looked into and would be given due consideration.
Astha Chauhan and Hasina Bano, Research Team working in the project explained to locals how to fill the questionnaire for obtaining desired information and thanked the village Panch and other participants for giving their valuable suggestions. These will be useful in obtaining good results for the project.
They participants also visit the alpine pastures in which local inhabitants of nearby areas also participated with enthusiasm.
The research team from HFRI apprised them about the important plants of the area.
It was a great learning experience as the locals provided valuable traditional knowledge about a large number of plants, said the participants.
