Founded in 1993, AT India commenced work in the Garhwal Himalayas, as an off-spring of AT International, a Washington based charity. Under a three-year grant from the Biodiversity Conservation Network, AT India took the lead in establishing, commercially viable oak tasar sericulture through village based enterprises. Since its inception 15 years ago, AT India has developed a range of novel livelihood activities enabling steady returns to beneficiaries who now number approximately 7926, generating benefits of around 20 million INR per annum.

Thus, what started as a biodiversity conservation project in 1994, with the mandate to develop an enterprise based model for conservation, has evolved into a vibrant livelihoods diversification and skills development programme. Even so, it has remained true to its original ideal of biodiversity conservation. The forest-based enterprises developed under the programme exemplify AT India’s vision of economic security for local forest-dependent communities. Simultaneously the improved community perceptions of their natural resource base, along with the apparent health of the project area forests, demonstrate its fulfillment of the sustainable forest resources use ideal.

Today AT India is acknowledged to be at the forefront of innovation in the development strategies, both in the context of livelihood development and conservation, in the Western Himalayas. It’s strategy of raising value of existing resource base to enlist community participation in the conservation efforts, on this wide a scale, has perhaps been tested for the first time in India.

AT India‘s Goals

• Expanding local capacity to harvest, process and market Non-Timber Forest Products - oak tasar silk, honey, bamboo and rajma.
   

• Strengthening community-based conservation and development institutions like Van Panchayats, Mahila Mandal Dals, Self Help Groups.
   

• Providing ecologically sound, productivity enhancing, cost-effective technologies, training and services for sustainable enterprise development.
   

• Creating income and employment opportunities for thousands of mountain villages in Uttarakhand.
   

• Conducting biological and socio-economic research and monitoring.
   

• Providing financial and insurance services to meet community needs through microfinance.
   

• Conserving biodiversity through action research, participatory monitoring. of natural resources and plantation programs.

New Entities

In a bid to decentralize its operations and make them self-sustainable, AT India, from its early years, organized its production activity into community owned enterprise. Currently, AT India works in alliance with two other entities that have evolved from its main programs, and have complementary but distinct roles:

Devbhumi Natural Products Producers Company Limited (DNPCL) founded in 2007, has been designated to provide product development and production management services in the non-organized rural sector and establish linkages with main stream markets. It comprises of … producers, who are the actual share-holders of the company. More on this… For further details visit
www.devbhumi.com

Ushamath Mahila Mahasangh (UMM) founded in 2005, is a micro-finance institution in the cooperative sector apart from being the apex body of the 729 women SHGs functioning under the project. It works as a community owned, managed and controlled MFI, offering credit and micro-insurance services not just to its 7617 women members but thousands other in rural and semi-urban areas of Uttarakhand. For more details see www.ummcop.org

AT India is left with the primary role of developing technical skills and local capacities for production of goods and services at the community level. Alongside, it also seeks to pursue program related research and conservation initiatives

The presence of the above two enterprises is expected to play a significant role in ensuring the long-run viability of AT India’s projects even after its withdrawal.
 

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Little about AT India’s Plans for the future:

Projects in the pipeline include expanding Business Development Services and Value Chain integration operations in 2 sub-sectors, dairy and bee-keeping along with assessing the potential of introducing two new sub-sectors- selected spices and citrus, for which Uttarakhand has both comparative and competitive advantages. The project will use a market driven strategy based on value chain analysis and development of business development services markets in the respective sub-sectors. This model has already been successfully employed by AT India in the dairy, beekeeping and sericulture sub-sectors. The proposed project planned over three years will create and facilitate income opportunities for 8000 client households in remote villages of the Himalayas. It is anticipated that 70% of the clients will be women.

The Team

The above range of activities requires a sufficient range of skills and expertise to execute them. In most of the livelihood sub-sectors that the programme is involved, AT India initiatives have invariably been the first of their kind in Uttarakhand. This means that the organization is today a repository of skills and expertise that are unique and not easily replaceable. Currently ATI has 76 persons on its permanent pay roll. About 95% of the staff comprises of home-bred Garhwalis, ascribing it a distinctly local identity notwithstanding its broad global vision.

AT India is governed by a board of directors headed by Ms. Sharmila Ribeiro, President, AT India. Board representation includes well-known professionals from the development and commercial sectors, who have held, or are presently on top management assignments in their respective fields.

Management Staff

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