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Indian Kashmir Goes Digital To Discourage Shahtoosh Trade
Srinagar, India (AFP) July 14, 2007 Authorities in Indian Kashmir are using modern technology to check trade in shahtoosh products made from the fur of an endangered Tibetan antelope, officials said on Saturday. Wildlife officials say they have put microchip tags on nearly 900 shahtoosh products owned by Kashmiris to discourage trading in the fabric known as the "king of wools" for its gossamer lightness. Tags "weighing less than a gram have been tagged to these shahtoosh products," wildlife warden Rashid Naqash told AFP. "The aim is to check shahtoosh trading in Kashmir." Trade in the luxurious shahtoosh shawls, sought by the wealthy as well as being a traditional dowry item in north India, is outlawed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. India passed a ban in 1976 on shahtoosh made from the fur of the chiru, or the Tibetan antelope. Decades later in 2002, the government of Jammu and Kashmir followed suit under heavy pressure from environmentalists. The super-fine Shahtoosh wool was smuggled from Tibet to India where it was woven into shawls by Kashmiris who are known as excellent weavers. The move to tag the items comes after India's Supreme Court asked that all shahtoosh items owned by people in Kashmir be registered. The microchips carry registration numbers, dimension details and owner photographs. The details can be seen once the chip is put in a reader and cross checked with wildlife officials to check the legal status of the product. "The owners can use these products but cannot sell them nor is the certificate transferable," Naqash said. The wildlife department has retained secret codes of all the products to prevent fake chips being attached, he said. Other shahtoosh items from Kashmir, which do not carry microchips, will be considered illegal and confiscated. In 1900, there were an estimated one million chirus. Now there are believed to be fewer than 75,000 because of illegal trade in the wool. Chirus were traditionally hunted for their meat, and shawls made from their fur were only a byproduct. But demand for the shawls ignited in the 1970s and 1980s when westerners discovered their feathery lightness. There is still some clandestine manufacture of shahtoosh shawls in Kashmir, the global wildlife trade monitoring arm of the World Wildlife TRAFFIC says. But some weavers in Kashmir, known for their nimble fingers, have started making pashmina shawls instead with wool from domestic goats in the state's desert region of Ladakh.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links World Wildlife TRAFFIC The Economy
South Korea's Sluggish Project
Seoul (UPI) June 12, 2007Challenged by China's push to tap into North Korea's natural resources, South Korea wants to speed up economic cooperation with Pyongyang. But the efforts are unlikely to bear fruit in the near future as a key project of swapping manufacturing raw materials for mineral exploration rights has been stalled over the protracted nuclear standoff. |
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