Monthly Archives: November 2017

Nilgiri Activist Venugopal to attend Global Meet on Mountains

Nilgiri Documentation Director, Dharmalingam Venugopal has been invited to attend the UN Mountain Partnership Global Meeting at the Head Quarters of Food and Agriculture Organization at Rome, Italy from December 11th to 14th, 2017.

 Coinciding with International Mountain Day and the 15th anniversary of the Mountain Partnership, the Global Meeting will raise awareness of the need to place mountain ecosystems and peoples at the centre of international negotiations, policies and investments.

The Global Meeting will launch a Framework for Action to support concrete actions to strengthen the resilience of mountain peoples and environments.

It will also aim to ensure that sustainable mountain development is integrated into the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and in the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Almost one billion people live in mountain areas, and over half the human population depends on mountains for water, food and clean energy. Yet mountains are under threat from climate change, land degradation, overexploitation and natural disasters, with potentially far-reaching and devastating consequences, both for mountain communities and the rest of the world.

The Mountain Partnership is an official United Nations partnership and international voluntary alliance dedicated to improving the lives of mountain peoples and protecting mountain environments around the world.

Currently its membership comprises, 58 governments, 7 Subnational Authorities, 16 International Organizations and 237 Major Groups from civil society, NGOs and the private sector.

India is a new member of the Mountain Partnership. NDC is the only member from south India.

Small Mountains

“I have already launched a campaign to make the Global Meeting inclusive by giving due attention to Small, Significant and Sensitive mountains like the Nilgiris” says Venugopal and adds that “several members have expressed their support to the campaign”.

“We need to push for inclusiveness of all mountain regions,  which have major and neglected needs”, Mr. Andrew Taber, Executive Director of The Mountain Institute, USA and a key organizer of the Global Meeting had said in a mail sent  to Venugopal.

 “UN recognition of the significance and problems of mountains like Nilgiris will greatly help in drawing central and state government attention to the issues” according to Venugopal and recalled how the timely UNESCO recognition to the Nilgiri Mountain Railway rescued the Heritage Train from closure.

(Venugopal is from Kannerimukku Village)

A couple of actions taken by a group of volunteers for the past few months have proved that Badagas can be truly enterprising.

Lead by a group leader from Kodumudi and implemented by a husband wife team from Pudugamandu and volunteers from many hattis – villages have launched a successful cooperative movement. To make vegetables available to the  villagers at very much affordable prices that are much cheaper than in the market at their door step.

These young volunteers, take their pickup vans and and buy fresh vegetables from Mysore in the north and and Karamadai in he south. They buy onions, tomatoes and potatoes along with curry leaves (benguvay, dhomba, gaasu and karambay soppu) in bulk and bring it to Nattakallu, near Kotagiri where the sorting out of the vegetables takes place. The people of Nattakallu, famous  for its Koottu Haada (meeting ground), have made their community hall available to the volunteers.

A number of volunteers both men and women, apart from sorting out, pack one kg each of these vegetables with curry leaves into an eco riendly cloth bag. Based on the request made, the men take these bags to villages and deliver them directly to the villages, some times through a volunteer who takes charge of distribution and collection of money.

Each bag (3 kgs plus Curry leaves) is given for a price of Rs.100 ( the same quantity costs around Rs.160 in the market these days).

This is done every day of the week.

Bravo Badagas, God helps those who help themselves.