Our vision is to develop Jabarkhet Nature Reserve as a model of conservation and sustainable development for the area, while widely promoting a greater awareness and appreciation of nature.
By setting up what we believe is one of the few, if not only, Private Nature Reserves in India, we want to demonstrate that conservation can be a viable economic model for land owners and local communities. We feel that that this will be an incentive and encouragement for other public and private land owners to opt for conservation of the areas under their control, thus contributing to the overall ecological protection of the area while also generating income.
Our current team is made up of nine people (including three women) from the local settlements of Jabarkhet, Kanda, Kolti and Kimui. In the long term, we aim to develop new livelihoods based on sustainable harvesting of forest products and other activities related to ecotourism including village homestays. We believe that if local residents and villagers have a stake in conservation, they will become willing partners and supporters of the effort.
The JNR model can play a significant role in promoting ‘real’ ecotourism in the Himalayas by combining education, livelihoods and conservation in a meaningful way. Given the serious and ever-increasing threats to the fragile ecology of the Himalayas, we believe that every contribution towards conservation is important, and hope that this initiative provides encouragement to many others. We have started this journey with great excitement – by supporting us, you are contributing directly to conservation of the Himalayan environment and to the livelihoods of those who depend on it.
