Twist in the Lantana Tale
An excerpt from our article published in Down to Earth about scaling lantana removal and our work with the Soliga community.
By Sandeep Hanchanale and Dr. Siddappa Setty
Scaling the lantana artisanal business model is necessary, given the scale of infestation. But mining and repurposing lantana is expensive — it has to be retrieved from the forest, processed and the finished product has to be transported to the cities. The Soligas now have to venture deeper into the woods to extract lantana, meaning the time taken is more and the weight carried back on each trip is less.
Moreover, handicrafts and furniture are made from lantana stems, which account for only 20 per cent of the plant’s biomass. So, how can the lantana pay for its own removal? There are two ways by which ATREE’s Centre for Social and Environmental Innovation (CSEI), based in Bengaluru, is addressing these issues. One is upskilling artisans by organising furniture training workshops to expose them to new techniques, designs and industry standards.
The second is product innovation. CSEI is exploring ways to use all the lantana biomass. A successful test run has been completed with the Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training Institute, an autonomous body under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (moefcc), to create construction material like particle boards. This can drastically increase the percentage of usable lantana.
Read the full article published in Down to Earth (April 1–15 edition) here: Twist in the Lantana Tale
If you would like to collaborate with us, please reach out: csei.collab@atree.org.
To stay updated on our work, join our mailing list.
