LPPS Director Hanwant Singh Rathore shows off the new camel-dung paper at the Pushkar Fair
After LPPS's camel milk ice-cream that has featured at the Pushkar Fair over the past two years, the fair was again the site of the launch of a unique product made from a camel by-product--handmade paper produced from the dung of camels!
A variety of paper products like notebooks, diaries and greeting cards were up for sale at the fair, and were bought eagerly by the visitors to the fair. First reactions varied from amazement to amusement, naturally. Paper from dung...unbelievable!
Scatalogical expressions and jokes apart, yes, it is true. Camel dung contains some undigested fibre which can be converted into paper which is both ecologically friendly and a novelty for the public. The waste product from the process is also a good fertilizer for agricultural fields.
According to the Director of LPPS, Hanwant Singh Rathore, this new product illustrates the myriad ways in which the camel-keeping can benefit the ecosystem, and also opens up another option for increasing the income of camel pastoralists like the Raika who have been associated with camel rearing in Rajasthan for centuries. This also falls in line with the LPPS mission of encouraging sustainable livelihoods for pastoralists in order to continue with their profession of camel rearing, despite difficult circumstances.
Tourists and locals flocked to the LPPS stand to taste the ice cream and buy paper
Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan (LPPS) has teamed up with Mahima Mehra of Haathi Chaap for the production of this hand-made paper from camel dung. Having been involved in the production of paper from the dung of elephants from Amber Fort in Jaipur for the past five years, Ms. Mehra was gung-ho about turning her attention to an animal species that is synonymous with Rajasthan, a state which also has a history of hand-made paper making.
Read an interview with Ms. Mahima Mehra here.
For more details on the product range and other details, contact Hanwant Singh at lpps@sify.com
