Neema In the village of Ringora, dist. Nainital, a girl named Neema is making artefact using local raw material, the “saan”. Her products are the only local creation that can be found in and around Corbett, making it priceless. But Neema is not only a brand, it represents a whole history of Kumaoni women who work incredibly hard every day. Their daily life starts early morning, where they go inside the jungle to collect firewood and grass, to cook and heat the houses, to feed the cattle but also to collect this particular grass that is much needed to repair the roofs and that can be sold at...

Among the Society for Mahseer Conservancy, a new project was launched few months ago, under the name “WELFARE”, which stands for Women Empowerment through Lantana Furniture, Artefacts and Restoration of the Environment”. The reason for this project emerged after an obvious result from the firewood survey: the villagers will not reduce their wood collection unless some alternatives are provided to them. Unfortunately, the government is almost absent in such help. Our actions may be at small scale, but at least they are actions. The women are the protagonists of this project since they are...