The Himalayan star anise is a key source of livelihood for India’s Indigenous Monpa community. But the tree that bears the star anise fruit has greatly declined in number after decades of overharvesting of the fruits and seeds, logging for wood and charcoal and unfair market practices, according to a Mongabay India video published in February.
The dried fruits of the Himalayan star anise tree (Illicium griffithii) are used as spice in food and as medicines and perfumes. The tree was listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2014, after its population declined by 60% in the previous eight decades.
The evergreen tree grows inside forests across a few states in Northeast India, and its dried fruits have largely been collected and traded by members of the Monpa community in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
“We have been collecting star anise since we were 5-10 years old,” Pem Choton, a Monpa woman in the mountain village of Nyukmadung in Arunachal Pradesh, told Mongabay. When she was young, each household could collect 30-50 kilograms (66-110 pounds) of star anise a day, Choton added, but now it’s down to a daily harvest of 2-3 kg (4.4-6.6 lb).
Monpa people like Choton hike to forests at higher elevations and collect fallen dried star anise fruit, locally known as lissi, from the forest floor every October-December.
While the Himalayan star anise is largely foraged, its cousin, I. verum, is commercially grown in China and Vietnam, which India then imports.
“While the quality [of the Himalayan star anise] is good, the lack of awareness among the local gatherers has prevented it from capturing the market share we aim for,” Hirak Jyoti Baishya, deputy manager of North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited under the northeastern region’s Ministry of Development, told Mongabay.
Some farmers like Ngawan Thuten from Nyukmadung village have started cultivating the star anise tree. However, he said emerging pests and untimely rains damage the fruit.
The farmers and harvesters typically rely on middlemen with connections to star anise businesses in major cities like Delhi and Guwahati to sell their Himalayan star anise.
“So even if we are selling it to them at a lower price, at least we are selling something,” Thuten said, adding they just do as the middlemen say.
But efforts are underway to revive the struggling star anise trees. Many village committees have banned cutting trees for wood, for example, and foraging is restricted to collecting only fallen fruits.
To help increase the value of the locally harvested star anise, WWF-India is working with Monpa farmers to institutionalize the process of harvesting, packaging and marketing star anise to big buyers in a manner that ensures fair trade and profit-sharing.
“We are more of a facilitator in here,” Kamal Medh of WWF-India said.
Watch the full video by Mongabay India here.
Banner image of Pem Choton, a resident of Nyukmadung, drying star anise. Image © Surajit Sharma.
