The Himalayan star anise is a key source of livelihood for India’s Indigenous Monpa community. But the tree that bears the star anise fruit has greatly declined in number after decades of overharvesting of the fruits and seeds, logging for wood and charcoal and unfair market practices, according to a Mongabay India video published in February. The dried fruits of the Himalayan star anise tree (Illicium griffithii) are used as spice in food and as medicines and perfumes. The tree was listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2014, after its population declined by 60% in the previous eight decades. The evergreen tree grows inside forests across a few states in Northeast India, and its dried fruits have largely been collected and traded by members of the Monpa community in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. “We have been collecting star anise since we were 5-10 years old,” Pem Choton, a Monpa woman in the mountain village of Nyukmadung in Arunachal Pradesh, told Mongabay. When she was young, each household could collect 30-50 kilograms (66-110 pounds) of star anise a day, Choton added, but now it’s down to a daily harvest of 2-3 kg (4.4-6.6 lb). Monpa people like Choton hike to forests at higher elevations and collect fallen dried star anise fruit, locally known as lissi, from the forest floor every October-December. While the Himalayan star anise is largely foraged, its cousin, I. verum, is commercially grown in China and Vietnam, which India then imports. “While the quality…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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