The organisations from as diverse places as western Kenya and Tamil Nadu shared their experiences and knowledge on a platform 'Community Palle' (village), supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on the sidelines of the ongoing UN biodiversity convention here.
"In particular, we look at biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction. Every two years, in line with Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) Conference of Parties (COP), we bring together some of these leaders, so that they can tell their stories to each other, tell the stories to the world," UNDP programme officer Joseph Corcoran said.
A case in study is the Muliru Farmers Conservation Group, a community-based organisation located near Kakamega Forest in western Kenya, officials said.
The group generates income through commercial cultivation and secondary processing of an indigenous medicinal plant to produce the 'Naturub' brand of medicinal products, organisers of the group said in a presentation at the convention.
Kakamega is the last surviving rain forest in Kenya and is home to a unique variety of eco-systems and diversity of flora and fauna.
A species endemic to Kakamega Forest is Ocimum kilimandscharicum, an indigenous medicinal plant, which has been used by the local population for the treatment of cold, flus and coughs.
The Muliru Farmers Conservation Group, formed in 1997, promotes the commercial cultivation of the plant by the local communities and creates revenue for them by processing, producing and marketing its products, officials said.
It also stimulates the participation of the local communities in conservation activities.
The total revenue from the project thus far has been USD 70,000 and it has impacted the biodiversity and also the socio-economic spheres of the local community, they said. (MORE)
