Sundarban Honey gets GI tag
‘Sundarban Honey’, exported to various regions in the country and internationally, has attained recognition as a geographical indication (GI) product.
West Bengal Forest Development Corporation Limited (WBFDCL) is the agency which applied for the recognition, called a GI tag. It had to fight off an attempt by a Pune-based entity as the official applicant.
More than 2,000 families in the Sundarbans region sustain their livelihoods through honey cultivation.
Every year, from March to April, the Bengal Forest Department issues boat licences to traditional honey collectors, called ‘mouli’, to enable them to enter the deep forests to extract honey by breaking honeycombs. The job is risky and has resulted in deaths at the hands of tigers in the mangrove forests over the years.
The Bengal government ensures that the moulis get a minimum support price for their hard work and the risks involved. An individual insurance worth Rs 5 lakh is provided to all moulis who get permits from the government to venture into the forest.
WBFDCL manages the entire honey collection process, purchasing and marketing the harvested honey, under the brand ‘Mouban’.
