Rampant logging threatens Kashmiri cricket bat industry
When the cricket World Cup kicks off in India this October, several players will be carrying Kashmiri willow wood bats. But manufacturers in the region say over-exploitation of trees means their famous craft faces ruin. Supplies of willow wood are rapidly vanishing amidst rampant logging and insufficient replanting. The Kashmiri cricket bat industry supplies the bulk of global supply and is central to the contested region’s economy, employing some 120,000 people across 400 workshops.
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00:00 (speaking in foreign language)
00:03 (air hissing)
00:06 (birds squawking)
00:09 (swords clanking)
00:14 (speaking in foreign language)
00:35 (speaking in foreign language)
00:39 (air hissing)
00:58 (water running)
01:01 (swords clanking)
01:09 - We are making three million bats annually,
01:18 and we are unable to cater 100% of our demand.
01:21 So if you are making cricket bats
01:23 and you are not planting any tree there back at the place,
01:26 you are getting your raw material from.
01:28 So that day may come and when it will extinct.
01:31 And today we are afraid that it may last
01:35 only for two, three years.
01:37 And tomorrow a day will definitely come
01:39 when people of Kashmir, around 1.5 lakh people
01:42 who are earning their livelihood from this very industry,
01:45 they may be rendered jobless.
01:47 (swords clanking)
01:55 (birds squawking)
01:58 If government is gonna take action,
02:04 a sustainable plantation drive is gonna take place.
02:07 If they want to protect this very industry,
02:10 a sustainable plantation drive has to come into action.
02:13 Today they are planting 100,000 trees annually,
02:16 at a rate of 100,000 trees annually.
02:18 And after 10 long years,
02:20 we will have our sufficient raw material available
02:22 for the state, for the industry.
02:24 And we will be the largest exporters of cricket bats
02:27 from this very place.
02:28 (water flowing)
02:30 (birds squawking)
02:33 (water flowing)
02:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]