Ensures fair living wage for producers
Discloses the community being impacted
Reduces the environmental impact
Focusses on women producers
Created using handcrafted methods
Made out of responsible materials
Avoids use of chemicals or toxic materials
Uses portion of proceeds to give back to the community
Last Forest, registered in the year 2010, is a profit-hybrid institution incubated by an NGO – Keystone Foundation – that provides marketing solutions to primary producer groups and communities that are working on forest and agriculture products that are natural, wild, and local. What started as a small project within the NGO, the need for the creation of market access for the indigenous people grew large and Last Forest was created as a private limited company.
Purpose
The mission is to provide sustainable living choices by connecting communities and markets. Based in Kotagiri in the heart of Nilgiris mountains, Last forest is a marketing platform for fair trade principles, sustainable harvesting, and biodiversity. Their primary function is to create value for the marginalized communities that they work with and to empower the women at the grassroots level.
People
They’ve directly impacted 1609 Adivasis who are also shareholders and members of their sister organization - the producer company Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Private Company Ltd. Indirectly last Forest impacts close to 5000 marginalized individuals primarily based in the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve. The aim is to constantly grow this base and to be able to positively impact over 10000 individuals in the next five years.
Planet
Right from the sourcing of raw materials to the selling of the final product, Last Forest is mindful of the environment. They have created “Sustainable Harvesting Protocols” for their forest produce at the beginning of the supply chain. The packaging material that is used is increasingly environmentally friendly as they continue to replace each item with something more sustainable and thoughtful of the impact it has on nature.
