British project to help Tibetan Antelope

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*UK project helps Shahtoosh traders in Kashmir*

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*'New eco-friendly pashmina wool doesn't endanger the Tibetan antelope'*

 

*UNITED NEWS OF INDIA*

 

New Delhi, Feb 22: A British government-supported project has helped

rehabilitate the people of Kashmir associated with Shahtoosh shawls, the

trade and manufacture of which faces international ban.

President, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Fred O'Regan said

here recently that the anti-Shahtoosh campaign was launched by the

organisation simultaneously in the UK, China and India several years ago.

He said the extremely successful campaign helped in giving a new lease of

life to the endangered Tibetan antelope (Panthelops hodgsonii), known as

Chiru, after Shahtoosh was made illegal in Kashmir, the only place in the

world, which produced the finest wool.

" However, the story could only be completed when the human dimension was

looked at and addressed. Much of the weaving and spinning of the prized wool

is done in Kashmir by women and those whose families had already been

affected by the civil unrest in that part of the world,'' O'Regan said.

He said the IFAW and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) have been working

with these women in a project supported by the British government.

" The project helped these Kashmiri women to produce a new eco friendly

pashmina wool, thus giving them livelihood without endangering the Tibetan

antelope,'' the IFAW president added.

An international ban on Shahtoosh was imposed in 1995 following a

high-profile campaign which targetted several American celebrities and asked

them to surrender their expensive wraps.

The selling or owning of Shahtoosh, a Persian word meaning ''Pleasure of

Kings'' or ''King of Wool,'' was made illegal in all those countries that

signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

The Jammu and Kashmir government had banned the manufacture and trade of

Shahtoosh in 2000.

Following the ban on Shahtoosh, all efforts were directed towards

developing the Kashmir handmade pashmina.

The WTI also helped in registration of the Kashmir Handmade Pashmina

Promotion Trust (KHPTT), an organisation of artisans, which brought together

the traditional artistry of Shahtoosh and Pashmina workers to promote

Kashmir handmade pashmina and to establish it as an exclusive brand.

The WTI is helping to revive forgotten techniques of processing pashmina,

which is combed from a farmed goat.

The KHPTT has been granted 'Craftmark,' a handmade process certification

mark for Indian handloom products. Its products have been successfully

exhibited and sold in India and would now be marketed internationally.