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00:00:25My name is Jai, thank you, thank you so much for joining us today.
00:00:29.
00:00:29.
00:00:31I am very familiar with my favorite part of the movie.
00:00:34I am very familiar with the project and I am very familiar with the city.
00:00:40It's really a good one.
00:00:41And it is really interesting.
00:00:47I am very familiar with the end of the movie.
00:00:52I am very familiar with the person who is the world.
00:00:55I will do it.
00:00:57I always look at the world and see it.
00:00:59I am very familiar with the world.
00:01:04We're going to do this.
00:01:29You go out and you can't sleep if you're hungry.
00:01:32You can't sleep.
00:01:39It's all for you.
00:01:45They've been dead.
00:01:46I've been walkingдеived.
00:01:46I'm hungry and drinking.
00:01:46I'm fine, I'm fine.
00:01:51Get back.
00:01:53Get back.
00:01:55Get back.
00:01:58Get back.
00:01:59I don't know.
00:01:59I don't know.
00:02:01I don't know.
00:02:01I don't know.
00:02:03I don't know.
00:02:04I don't know.
00:02:05What is that?
00:02:06I don't know.
00:02:08I don't know.
00:02:10I don't know.
00:02:11Don't do it.
00:02:13Muhammad, what are you doing?
00:02:15Go and take a look at the fence.
00:02:18Shaqeel, I show you something of your own love.
00:02:33You don't know.
00:02:55Yikes.
00:03:12Kashmir, a land nestled in the north of the Indian subcontinent.
00:03:17Its history has been tumultuous, but its reputation consistent.
00:03:23The diaries of those Chinese travellers 2,000 years ago, and those who took on the hippie
00:03:29trail in the 60s, all told stories of lush, unspoilt valleys, imposing snow-capped mountains,
00:03:38glacier-fed rivers.
00:03:40Like the Kashmiris themselves, they called it heaven on earth.
00:03:45During its history, Kashmir has never been independent.
00:03:48It's been part of vast empires, ruled over by everyone from Alexander the Great to
00:03:54the Mughal Emperors, fought over, conquered, and split apart.
00:04:00Its borders constantly drawn and redrawn.
00:04:05Today what most people think of Kashmir was in fact an invention of British mapmakers in
00:04:11the 19th century.
00:04:12The British subsumed Kashmir into their Indian empire by jamming a region here and a region
00:04:18there and creating a new state, Jammu and Kashmir, not caring if the people who lived there spoke
00:04:25the same language or practised the same religion.
00:04:29Then, in 1947, India was partitioned.
00:04:33More than a million people lost their lives and 14 million people were displaced as India
00:04:39was carved up into West Pakistan, India and East Pakistan.
00:04:45In the aftermath of this great upheaval, both India and Pakistan said that Kashmir belonged
00:04:51to them.
00:04:52The result?
00:04:53More war.
00:04:56And not just one, that conflict that started more than 75 years ago still simmers to this
00:05:04day.
00:05:04Today, Kashmir is still divided and disputed, split between China, India and Pakistan.
00:05:13In the East, there's the Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin and Transkarakoram, dominated by high-altitude
00:05:21desert and salt lakes.
00:05:23In the South, Indian-controlled Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, with their fertile plains and mountainous
00:05:30plateaus.
00:05:31The rest is administered by Pakistan.
00:05:33In the North, the frozen world of Gilgit-Baltistan, spiked by more than 50 peaks above 23,000 feet.
00:05:41And in the West, Azad, Jammu and Kashmir, literally translated as Free Kashmir, or as it's commonly
00:05:49known, AJK.
00:06:01Crossing the Jilam River has always marked your entry into Kashmir.
00:06:05From here, roads twist into dense green hills, climbing up to the Himalayas.
00:06:12It seems like a land of abundance.
00:06:15Trees heavy with fruit, timber for building, rivers full of fish.
00:06:25The blessing of natural riches doesn't stop life in AJK being one of hardship, though.
00:06:33Farming is an uphill struggle, and there are few other jobs.
00:06:39Each year carries the risk of yet another natural disaster, which in the past has totally
00:06:45destroyed life in AJK.
00:06:56On the 8th of October 2005, AJK was hit by one of the deadliest earthquakes in history.
00:07:04100,000 people died.
00:07:07Millions lost their homes.
00:07:0970% of infrastructure was destroyed.
00:07:24AJK desperately needed help.
00:07:31And non-governmental organisations, whose response had been vital in the immediate aftermath
00:07:37of the disaster, now moved to their recovery phase.
00:07:44Racing to find sustainable projects to restore people's lost livelihoods and create new opportunities.
00:07:55scheme after scheme was tried.
00:07:58One by one they failed.
00:08:00Each underestimating AJK's unique environment.
00:08:06And then one NGO decided to try something different.
00:08:13Commercial beekeeping.
00:08:15Not such a bad idea when most of Pakistan was already producing honey on a commercial scale.
00:08:22Where they'd adopted conventional Western techniques, using portable wooden hives with removable frames.
00:08:29And even importing an efficient Western bee they called the European bee.
00:08:34Or scientifically known as Apis mellifera.
00:08:39Surprisingly, although there are 20,000 bee species worldwide, only eight of them produce honey.
00:08:50Today Pakistan exports 4,000 tonnes of honey each year.
00:08:55Most leaving from Peshawah, a city in the west of Pakistan.
00:09:01Which is now the largest honey market in Asia.
00:09:06Inside this market people often talk of cedar honey being the best around.
00:09:12But listen closer and you'll hear a longing for the rare and pure honey of Kashmir.
00:09:18Renowned for his exquisite taste and healing properties due to the unique plants which only the tiny Kashmiri hill bee
00:09:27can feed.
00:09:34For generations this much revered Kashmiri honey came from these wild bees who made the hives in the walls of
00:09:43the mud houses.
00:09:49Twice a year the walls would be opened up and the honey harvested for food and medicine.
00:09:57And this is what one NGO wanted to change.
00:10:02They saw an opportunity to create a new industry, which post-earthquake the people of Azad Kashmir desperately needed.
00:10:1214 years on and this project has had incredible results.
00:10:16Helping the community to sell 1.5 million pounds of honey.
00:10:26I've spent the last five years travelling around the world, documenting and researching the biodiversity and climate crises.
00:10:34And now I was given a special invitation to attend the beekeepers yearly exhibition in the small Kashmiri town of
00:10:43Deerkot.
00:10:44To hear their unique story about how they'd managed to turn post-earthquake chaos into a life-changing opportunity.
00:10:55But I was arriving during a difficult time.
00:10:58Pakistan was suffering from yet another terrible natural disaster.
00:11:06The most devastating flooding in decades had left one third of the country under water, affecting no fewer than 33
00:11:15million people.
00:11:18The Pakistani Prime Minister has called it the worst in the country's history.
00:11:24It has all the hallmarks of a changing climate.
00:11:28Unworryingly, maybe not a freak of nature, but the new normal.
00:11:42The event was going ahead regardless.
00:11:45Although the area was safe from flooding, I was still hearing mutterings of the impact the super monsoon might have
00:11:52had up here.
00:11:56Still, the exhibition seemed busy, filled with a broad community of local farmers, traders and scientists, expecting to hear talks
00:12:05about the project's past, present and future.
00:12:10I was told to look out for Shaquille Ahmed Khan, the lead beekeeper and a legendary character in the valley,
00:12:17who had been involved in the project since its inception.
00:12:20And he was set to give an emotional and insightful talk to the gathering.
00:12:33Welcome, brothers and sisters.
00:12:36It is a pleasure to have so many friends here, both old and new, from nearby and afar.
00:12:42For those of you who don't know me, I'm Shaquille Ahmed Khan.
00:12:46I'm the lead keeper on the Human Appeal Beekeeping Project, and have been here since the very beginning, 15 years
00:12:53ago.
00:12:56I've stood on this stage many times before.
00:12:59But this time, I've been nervous, thinking about what it is best to say.
00:13:16I've reflected on my own personal journey.
00:13:19My love for bees, which started more than 30 years ago, with my very first taste of honey.
00:13:26You see, I think it's important we all look back, to understand where we've come from, why we're all here
00:13:34today.
00:13:35And for those of you who don't know, look back on the lessons we've learnt on the project so far,
00:13:41and how getting through the tough times has only made us stronger.
00:13:46It makes me smile, thinking that as far back as I can remember, I was always known as Shaquille Makhi,
00:13:53Shaquille the Bee.
00:14:00Shaquille Makhi, Shaquille Makhi, Shaquille Makhi, Shaquille Makhi, Shaquille Makhi!
00:14:06Walking to school one day, I stumbled across a broken down truck.
00:14:12There was a buzzing noise from these weird wooden boxes on the back.
00:14:16I crept up for a closer inspection.
00:14:23I was so engrossed by the strange beehives that I didn't even notice the man standing there.
00:14:30It turns out, this was Mr. Umar.
00:14:32He was a travelling beekeeper from the south, who had been bringing his bees to feed on the unique plants
00:14:38in our valleys.
00:14:40Having only ever seen bees kept in our walls or wild hives in the forest before, this was a startling
00:14:46revelation.
00:14:47Bees can be kept in boxes.
00:14:51Mr. Umar was delighted. I was showing an interest.
00:15:00I ended up missing the whole morning of school.
00:15:03My father was very angry.
00:15:06He didn't believe that my obsession with bees and nature would amount to anything.
00:15:11He wouldn't allow it to distract me from my school education.
00:15:16What's she doing?
00:15:18Why are you doing?
00:15:21What's she doing?
00:15:22I am saying to you for xp how are you making your name?
00:15:26I would advise you to lift up to work, but what do you find out?
00:15:27I recommend getting grown older than you is a engineer,
00:15:28then you tell your doctor.
00:15:29You once earned cash, and I'll get additional money,
00:15:33all my labor and say to my daughters.
00:15:35What will go Chick search?
00:15:39But I loved bees and I loved honey, and with those lessons learned from Mr. Rumar, I realized
00:15:46my dad would never need to know about my bees.
00:15:48They wouldn't be in the wall of our house, they would be in boxes, far out of his way.
00:15:54So I got to work, with nothing more than the images in my head and some offcuts from the
00:16:00sawmill.
00:16:12I had no idea how to grow like this, but I should have no idea what was going on.
00:16:16This is how I used to bring my bees.
00:16:18But I had no idea how to build those actions to make them go into a place.
00:16:54But I kept going, and going, and I wouldn't give up.
00:16:59None of them seemed to look like the ones on the back of the truck that I'd seen.
00:17:25Would you believe it took a year of constant modifications just to get a box to stay together?
00:17:31And then it was a whole other challenge to fill it with bees.
00:17:35No one knew how to capture wild bees.
00:17:37You don't need to with wall hives.
00:17:40They find their own way.
00:17:42But I needed bees, so off I went to catch some.
00:17:52And that was not easy.
00:18:02Bees find home in tricky places.
00:18:17On my first attempt to capture them, both my pride and my body got badly hurt.
00:18:36But again, I couldn't give up.
00:18:41I just came back more prepared.
00:18:56Success.
00:18:59My celebrations were a bit premature.
00:19:03As a day later, they were all gone.
00:19:10Overcoming challenges is the mark of us Kashmiris.
00:19:13This project has been, and will be, no different.
00:19:17So I'd learnt how to capture bees.
00:19:19But now I had to get them to stay.
00:19:23It turned out you can't just put bees in an empty box.
00:19:27They need something sweet to keep them there.
00:19:30Ideally honeycomb.
00:19:32I improvised.
00:19:33I made them my own concoction of honey water.
00:19:36And this seemed to work.
00:19:39What else could I do to make them happy?
00:19:43I tried to understand how much sunlight they like.
00:19:46And which plants they prefer to feed on.
00:19:54I lost over 300 hives trying to make it work.
00:19:57Finally, I found the right balance.
00:20:01It was all about experimentation and persistence.
00:20:05My biggest lesson?
00:20:07To keep the bees and make the best honey, I had to listen.
00:20:12Pay close attention.
00:20:14They would tell me everything I needed to know.
00:20:17We had to work together as a team.
00:20:21Before I knew it, Shaquille the bee was the perfect name.
00:20:24I had 15 or so hives and enough excess honey to take to the market.
00:20:51The people loved it.
00:20:54This was when I realized that maybe there was a future in it for me.
00:20:59However, the time had come for me to make my father proud.
00:21:03And go to university.
00:21:05It was a bittersweet moment.
00:21:07The day I left Deer Court is often seen as a mark of success.
00:21:12And it was good to see my father so proud.
00:21:14But I was leaving my home, my family and most of all, my bees.
00:21:24Four long university years passed before I returned to the timeless Deer Court.
00:21:30It felt as if I had never left.
00:21:53The first thing I needed to do was head to the hills to see if everything was the same as
00:21:58before.
00:22:06I remember my father being a little upset that the bees took priority.
00:22:27Unsurprisingly, the bees had gone.
00:22:31Hives don't look after themselves.
00:22:43The bees had moved on.
00:22:45And I had to also.
00:22:47I moved into my own house.
00:22:49I got a job in the police force and I got married.
00:22:58It was a respectful job.
00:23:00But I wasn't creating the future I wanted for myself.
00:23:04Letting bees go from my life was always a huge regret.
00:23:08All that hard work I'd put in wasted.
00:23:11I felt like I'd lost everything that I cared for.
00:23:14Until I'd really learned what it was like to lose everything.
00:23:18That's when the earthquake hit.
00:23:23It was viewpointing you right...
00:23:24Oh my God.
00:23:28If you stay there's nothing that I'm ashamed of!
00:23:29Go away.
00:23:29Go away.
00:23:49It's what I think it was!
00:24:03Strangely, I realized that this difficult time also presented a unique opportunity.
00:24:18With the thousands of homes that were destroyed in the earthquake, the bees that once lived
00:24:23in their war lives had no alternative but to head to the forest.
00:24:28So there were hundreds upon hundreds of colonies out there, and I was the only one who knew
00:24:34how to recapture them.
00:24:36Those experimental years as a young man would now pay off.
00:24:40I began exactly where I left off all those years ago.
00:24:43I remembered everything I had learned.
00:24:47It wasn't long before my farm was back.
00:25:02And now I could help people myself and start to give these colonies to those that had lost
00:25:22spears.
00:25:24I later learned that the boxes didn't quite catch on as I hoped.
00:25:27People would find the bees a home elsewhere.
00:25:31We all continued to search for things that would bring livelihoods back to Derkot.
00:25:36And at times it felt like we needed divine intervention.
00:25:45Maybe that's what we got when I bumped into Mr. Nisar at the mosque in the autumn of 2008.
00:25:54Nisar had returned to Derkot to help us after the earthquake.
00:25:57And it was always nice to see him back again.
00:26:01The Quran teaches us many lessons about how to live one's life.
00:26:06And the Imam that day was telling us to pay close attention to the example of the bee.
00:26:11It's industriousness and adaptability.
00:27:10The Quran says,
00:27:11Ayatan liqawmi yatafakkarud amantubillahi sadaqallahu al-azim.
00:27:29Allahu akbar.
00:27:43It turns out this surya sparked something in Nisar.
00:27:56Afterwards, he asked if I could come and meet him.
00:27:59To drink some chai the next day, as he wanted to discuss a plan.
00:28:24Nisar had heard stories about the work I was doing.
00:28:27Sharing bee hives within the community.
00:28:30He had an idea that he wanted to use this model, but scale it up to encourage as many
00:28:35locals as possible to take up beekeeping as a reliable source of income.
00:28:40And he thought I would be the right person to lead the project.
00:28:45I was very flattered and very excited, but he had to convince the charity first.
00:28:53Two long weeks later, he finally called me back.
00:28:57The project had the go ahead for the trial.
00:29:00And he wanted me to come, meet the team, and finalize the plan.
00:29:07This was a dream come true, to finally be able to follow my passion and share a lifetime's knowledge.
00:29:15It turned out it wasn't quite as I was expecting.
00:29:19Human appeal wanted to go ahead, but using the European bees, the bees being used in the rest of Pakistan.
00:29:25I was assured they produced the greatest honey yields of any species, exactly what we needed.
00:29:32I wasn't sure about this.
00:29:35I only had knowledge of our local bee, but who was I to doubt Nisar?
00:29:41It was still the perfect job, so I agreed.
00:29:49I got straight to work, rounding up potential beneficiaries in the valley to come to my beekeeping school.
00:30:01The initial response was fantastic, and all the new recruits seemed optimistic.
00:30:16However, over the course of the next few months, one by one, they all lost their colonies, no honey in
00:30:23sight, anywhere.
00:30:24It was a disaster. We couldn't understand what was happening.
00:30:37It was totally demoralizing.
00:30:40We were told the European bees gave riches across the whole world.
00:30:44Why were we not having any success?
00:30:49A meeting was called between the beneficiaries and the organizers.
00:30:54We wanted solutions.
00:30:55Had we been sold a lie?
00:30:57Or were we simply destined to never have the opportunities as the rest of the world enjoyed?
00:31:13The meeting got very heated as frustrations boiled over.
00:31:18Nisar assured us there would be a way, but we had to persist.
00:31:22They wouldn't give up their support.
00:31:36The pressure was on to find a solution.
00:31:41And I got together to discuss the situation at Rashid's house.
00:31:51It was whilst doing so, I was watching the local bees happily flying in and out of his wall hive.
00:31:58I don't know why.
00:32:00It was a conversation or the buzzing of the bees, but the situation reminded me of that time I'd met
00:32:06Mr. Umar and his truck of beehives all those years ago.
00:32:11I suddenly recalled that Mr. Umar said he was heading back to Pakistan because his bees were dying in the
00:32:18mountains of Kashmir.
00:32:19They didn't like the climate and they couldn't feed on our flowers.
00:32:22They too were European bees.
00:32:25How could I have forgotten this?
00:32:30The following day I marched into Nisar's office and I told him my revelation.
00:32:47Nisar was very skeptical.
00:32:50He had always been told it was impossible to keep large colonies of the local bee in wooden hives.
00:32:57I told him I had done it successfully before and I could do it again.
00:33:02Nisar said such a fundamental change would need to be discussed at the highest level.
00:33:14A week or so later, we got the news we had been waiting for.
00:33:18Human appeal agreed the project could go ahead using the local bees.
00:33:23But we had to prove we could produce enough honey to justify it.
00:33:40It was a heavy burden for me.
00:33:42It was a heavy burden for me.
00:33:43I had to be the best teacher.
00:33:44The project depended on it.
00:33:57Under the watchful eye of Nisar, we began our two-day workshops, sharing the techniques I had perfected.
00:34:03We worked 24-7.
00:34:06I am very grateful that all the beneficiaries stood by me, some of whom are in this room with us
00:34:13today.
00:34:13So, I think we know where this story is going.
00:34:16Yes, finally, honey.
00:34:19Here we go.
00:34:49By sticking together and working with our bees, we reap the rewards and we would indulge in our first beautiful
00:34:57harvest.
00:36:06I was relieved.
00:36:08Our pots of gold were beginning to flow and a new day was dawning for the Human Appeal Honeybee Project.
00:36:19Soon, a whole industry around beekeeping was born.
00:36:23Not only farmers, but people to extract the honey, sell the jars and build the hives.
00:36:40Personally, I was happy that it wasn't me that had to build all the boxes anymore.
00:36:47The boxes are as much of a curiosity to most of you as they were to me all that time
00:36:53ago.
00:36:55And just seeing them was enough of a reason to know more and to track us down.
00:37:27I continued the training courses.
00:37:31We were inundated with applications to join the training scheme.
00:37:40Classes became bigger and the waiting list longer and longer.
00:37:46I rarely got to eat my dinner in peace with all the beekeeping questions everyone would ask.
00:37:58Success.
00:38:18We're getting together.
00:38:20We're getting together.
00:38:29Many people are very scared.
00:38:31I have never been scared.
00:38:38You're scared of me, I'm scared.
00:38:38You're scared of me, I'm scared of me, I'm scared.
00:38:39Homoosh, Homoosh, stop, stop, stop, stop,
00:38:41everyone will get me!
00:38:42Have a great day, everyone's scared.
00:38:46Homoosh, Homoosh, Homoosh!
00:38:50Yay!
00:38:51How are you, buddy?
00:38:53Don't worry, I'll be happy.
00:38:58Okay, I'll take it again, Abby.
00:39:20The project became bigger than any of our expectations.
00:39:24And you could even say that our post-earthquake prayers were answered.
00:39:34Just look at how many of you are here today.
00:39:38I'm so proud that you and almost 900 others have gone through our training.
00:39:44Think about how much honey our hills are producing now.
00:39:48Lives have changed in the valley.
00:39:51And interest in beekeeping is spreading wider into Kashmir.
00:39:57We should be very proud.
00:40:00I can also now share some tremendously exciting news.
00:40:04Recently, I received a very special invite to travel to Islamabad
00:40:10to meet one of the world's leading advertising agencies.
00:40:28They had tasted our honey and heard our captivating story.
00:40:33They have an ambition to work with us and turn our product, Kashmir Mountain Honey, into a global brand.
00:40:43They believe we have something truly special.
00:40:48I wanted to be standing here today celebrating this news.
00:40:53I wanted to be standing here celebrating all our achievements.
00:41:04But sadly, the reality is a different story.
00:41:08As most of you know, we have been dealt another bitter blow to the project.
00:41:13We anticipate that 70% of our hives have been destroyed by this year's catastrophic monsoon.
00:41:20And our honey yields are the lowest for many years.
00:41:25Unsurprisingly, I am hearing stories of many of you beekeepers considering giving it up.
00:41:31The opportunity we have been presented in Islamabad has the potential to completely transform the livelihoods of many, many more
00:41:41in this village.
00:41:43It could be our honey, on the shelves of the shops in the capital and beyond.
00:41:49But to get there, we need to rise above and not be deterred by this latest challenge.
00:42:02We can't let one bad harvest stop us.
00:42:05We can't let all of our hard work go to waste.
00:42:09It's taken us 14 years to get here.
00:42:13But we're only just starting.
00:42:16You have listened to my stories, heard about the hurdles we have overcome.
00:42:20And hopefully you can see how each time, with each lesson, we have become stronger.
00:42:27The prospects in Deer Court are better for our children.
00:42:31So please, stand by us.
00:42:34And we will stand by you.
00:42:36Because we can only do it together.
00:42:38This cannot be the end of our journey.
00:42:50Shaquille left us with this rallying call.
00:42:53Being faced with such adversity, it was the perfect time to tell us this whole story.
00:42:58Full of examples of incredible resilience.
00:43:02He made me realise that just focusing on the project's financial success,
00:43:08masks just how important their journey has been.
00:43:11Against all odds, it was only through their determination and drive
00:43:15that they created such a flourishing industry.
00:43:18Producing what must be some of the purest, most beautifully tasting honey in the world.
00:43:25I can't help but be concerned for their future though.
00:43:27This super monsoon is not going to be the last the country will face.
00:43:32And how many more disturbances can these beekeepers be expected to deal with before giving up?
00:43:39And their honey never receiving the attention it deserves.
00:43:46They now have to find a way to keep the bees in the hives during such unpredictable times.
00:43:57I stuck around in Dirkot to learn more about the project from those involved
00:44:01and how they were planning for the future.
00:44:20Half his istiak was one of the first beneficiaries of the project.
00:44:25Before starting, he was said to be once the poorest man in the village,
00:44:29with barely a roof over his head.
00:44:31Yes.
00:44:33Yes.
00:44:38Yes.
00:44:41Yes.
00:44:41Yes.
00:44:42Yes.
00:44:45Yes.
00:44:47Yes.
00:44:47Yes.
00:44:49Yes.
00:44:55Yes.
00:45:03Yes.
00:45:16Yes.
00:45:18Alhamdulillah.
00:45:19I have also taught my children.
00:45:22I have been teaching my children.
00:45:24I have been studying at university.
00:45:25I have been studying at this time.
00:45:27I am very happy.
00:45:29I am doing my work.
00:45:31But I am happy with my family.
00:45:34I have also made a place.
00:45:36I have also made one to five.
00:45:40I have also made a car.
00:45:41I have never thought that I will do this.
00:45:44God has given me everything from these people.
00:45:51These potential gains are certainly life-changing.
00:45:54And the education of Hafiz's children
00:45:57will have positive impacts on their family for generations.
00:46:02These stories of financial benefits are told all over the village.
00:46:06Surely, if these rewards diminish, though,
00:46:09as we have already witnessed,
00:46:10people will have to look elsewhere for this lost income.
00:46:14on the land.
00:46:21Abraham Maski
00:46:21Look, three to ten years old ago.
00:46:24This idea had no low amount of yeteriously.
00:46:25Our fall, honeyshm, pum Buck,
00:46:29binders, grassermgregations...
00:46:30...all did foreign by mountain.
00:46:32These buildings are without wrecks.
00:46:34There are very heavilites.
00:46:34We can't harvest enough But it hasn't reached mountains.
00:46:39There isn't any problem.
00:46:40Because it also was made in the river.
00:46:42and they were doing all the damage from their hands.
00:46:47Now, the land is not so much,
00:46:49because it has been a long time for a long time.
00:46:52Now, they are living so much as the man can guard the kitchen.
00:46:56It is not possible to do that.
00:46:58They had to leave this work and
00:47:01try to do something else,
00:47:06just like we have started, Max Bonny.
00:47:12The lack of opportunities elsewhere
00:47:13looks like it's clearly an important draw
00:47:16towards this beekeeping industry.
00:47:19The livelihoods of more than 65% of AJK's population
00:47:23is based on agriculture.
00:47:26So with less and less produce to sell and eat,
00:47:29any rewards from beekeeping
00:47:31are gonna become an important lifeline.
00:47:34At the same time,
00:47:36it was scary to hear Karl Mohamed speak
00:47:38of how uncertain life was becoming.
00:47:40At that time, it didn't change the weather.
00:47:44At that time, it was changing the weather.
00:47:47The weather was not so bad as it was today.
00:47:54Today, it could be more or less.
00:47:57Today, it doesn't have the weather like that.
00:48:01If the beekeepers don't find a way to adapt,
00:48:04it could spell disaster for the sustainability of this region.
00:48:08In a region where already one in ten people are unemployed
00:48:12and over one-fifth of the population have left to work abroad.
00:48:24Rashid Khan is one of those who has found a way to remain with his family in the valley
00:48:29and is now one of the region's most experienced beekeepers.
00:48:58After Shaqeal had heard stories about people considering giving up,
00:49:01It was worrying to hear that people already had.
00:49:05But Rashid was a man renowned for his innovation
00:49:08and was strictly focused on ways he could adapt.
00:49:48Rashid believed that by innovating, they would make it through this testing time.
00:49:54And then it was time to hear from Shaquille.
00:49:56Did he believe that his speech had done enough?
00:50:00The Human Appeal project is successful at this time.
00:50:04This is a very long time.
00:50:07The other thing is that we have to build a doorstep to the beneficiary.
00:50:14We have to brief them from home to home.
00:50:17Those who leave their work, they take their work back.
00:50:20The rest of the government has not done it.
00:50:25Even if it was too early to tell if the speech had hit the mark,
00:50:28Shaquille was confident that the project had strong enough foundations,
00:50:32with such a proud community spirit, that regardless of their worries,
00:50:37he could persuade not just his existing beneficiaries to remain on the project,
00:50:41but even more to join.
00:50:44In the future, we can make it better to make it better.
00:50:49We can make it better.
00:50:50Because climate change is a lot of our things,
00:50:53which has been affected by our honeybees,
00:50:56we can make it better.
00:50:58And we can make it better because we can make it better.
00:51:01And we can make it better for our lives.
00:51:02And we can make it better for our lives and make it better.
00:51:03We can make it better for our lives.
00:51:05And some people, who have left good work,
00:51:08and who have been doing better,
00:51:11they have come to their lives there.
00:51:12So they have to do this.
00:51:17Bekeeping appears to be able to positively transform lives, potentially more than anything
00:51:22else this region has seen.
00:51:25And if history is anything to go by, then Shaquille and his beneficiaries won't just
00:51:29give up and move on when the going gets tough.
00:51:33And this fills me with hope, because it is and will be tough.
00:51:39Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change, and on paper
00:51:44one of the least able to deal with it.
00:51:47It would be devastating for the project to have its full potential limited.
00:51:51To be able to make the most of the opportunities given to them this year, they need to find
00:51:56power in numbers.
00:51:59So if the team can keep people motivated and adapt, then hopefully this project will continue
00:52:05to be resilient enough to take whatever is thrown at it.
00:52:15Let's go.
00:52:45Coming back nine months later, Shaquille's speech seems to have had the intended effect.
00:52:51The project had even more momentum.
00:52:54The waiting lists for training were longer than ever before and being given to as many
00:52:58students as the donations could sustain.
00:53:02Shaquille was also now adapting the course, preparing the students for the all new challenges
00:53:07that lay ahead.
00:53:15Shaquille was on a mission.
00:53:27He was reuniting with professors from nearby universities to improve his knowledge and
00:53:33start research projects to better understand the dangers that are posed to the industry.
00:53:40He was relentlessly travelling and giving speeches to colleges, hoping to inspire the next generation
00:53:47of students and spread word further into the region.
00:53:53Shaquille, a new environment for the world.
00:53:55This program was involved in the world.
00:54:00It is huge in the world.
00:54:03The work that we have is already present is being done in the world.
00:54:08Now, the work that we have is the most important part of the world.
00:54:10The work that we have is building out of the world is a big part of the world.
00:54:12We have a big part of the work that we can reduce the damage to the pandemic.
00:54:18Shaquille, a new environmental activist, was empowering people to act and also putting
00:54:25initiatives into place himself, for bees and planet.
00:54:44The main focus of the government's nurseries are to try and combat past deforestation,
00:54:50and now Shaquille is collaborating with them too. Reforestation will make the entire landscape
00:54:56richer, and Shaquille wants to make sure that the bees will benefit.
00:55:02The wind is a great place for the bees.
00:55:17The bees will help us to protect the bees.
00:55:24The bees will help us to protect the bees.
00:55:26The bees will help us to protect the bees.
00:55:36Rashid also told us his latest invention for adapting to climate change was ready.
00:55:42Combining traditional knowledge with the conventional methods, he had brought his hybrid hive concept
00:55:47to reality.
00:56:04It is a good idea that it will stay warm in the environment and it will stay warm in the
00:56:16environment.
00:56:16This is a very good idea.
00:56:19This is a very good idea.
00:56:21It's a very, very happy thing.
00:56:25We can get a lot better seedlings in this way.
00:56:41Everyone was hard at work, on the road to recovery for the next harvest,
00:56:46even going back to their roots,
00:56:49retrieving hives from the wild to get their farms back to full strength.
00:56:53But they wouldn't be cashing in on the honey from these hives.
00:56:57Instead, they were making sure
00:56:59there were enough to hand out to new beneficiaries.
00:57:02They needed them the most.
00:57:09First, they had to catch them,
00:57:11and then make the unenviable decision of who gets them first.
00:57:15.
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00:57:58The exhibition last year was full of future beneficiaries.
00:58:02Today, one in seven of all of these beneficiaries will be women.
00:58:12Yasmin is one of those who had joined the training early on.
00:58:16She was using beekeeping as a way of creating new,
00:58:20financial independence for herself,
00:58:22instead of relying on a male figure in her life,
00:58:25as well as investing it into her family's education.
00:58:36I also had the pleasure of meeting Mukdas,
00:58:38a fatherless young girl who stuck out from the rest in the recent trainings,
00:58:43constantly taking notes, watching Shaquille closely
00:58:46and confident to stand up,
00:58:48something I hadn't seen from many women here.
00:58:59When I started planning,
00:59:01I was very happy because it is very limited to women.
00:59:06Because women are in society,
00:59:09but women are very limited to women.
00:59:12So, I think that I am interested in all of these things.
00:59:22I think that when I was a mother,
00:59:24she was so strong as I am today.
00:59:28Because at that time,
00:59:29I had to take a stand for me,
00:59:32I couldn't take a stand.
00:59:35and I am doing all the things that I am doing.
00:59:39I thought that I was thinking
00:59:42that I couldn't say anything,
00:59:43but then I was very angry at that time.
00:59:46In that moment,
00:59:47there were so many new systems
00:59:48that were in the future.
00:59:52I didn't say that,
00:59:53I didn't tell them,
00:59:54they didn't say anything,
00:59:54I didn't say anything.
01:00:00I didn't say anything.
01:00:26With no family to support her, it was up to Muktas to secure her dream spot at university,
01:00:31and in turn, a brighter future.
01:00:35Excitingly, this beekeeping course could help enable all of that.
01:00:43This is exactly how important NGOs can be,
01:00:46and how important it is to support them, to give these kinds of opportunities.
01:01:03Throughout my five-year conservation journey, I witnessed dozens of projects like this,
01:01:09run by impassioned people, all committed to saving something they loved.
01:01:14Here, it was bees, and a life in this valley.
01:01:21Focusing on our changing world, almost all of the projects I visited prioritised the environment,
01:01:27and the benefits this could create for people.
01:01:30But this last trip has shown that although this beekeeping project was started for people,
01:01:35it has naturally adapted and blossomed into looking out for the environment too.
01:01:41Proving that we can't care for one without the other.
01:01:47Seeing Muktas receive her hives felt like the final proof that this project would not be broken.
01:01:53The project had rebounded from last year, making itself more resilient and sustainable in the process.
01:02:09In Muktas, it's supporting someone who will continue breaking ground,
01:02:13and making it more resilient into the future.
01:02:26Whereas Shaquille wants to set an example that commercial beekeeping is possible,
01:02:31Muktas too wants to set an example.
01:02:33And if she has her own way, she'll make sure it's possible for everyone.
01:02:55The opportunities beekeeping has created over the last 14 years,
01:03:00has meant that the valley can provide a rich life for Shaquille to stay here with his family.
01:03:06And now more than ever, it's creating a future that can continue to provide for his daughters too.
01:03:13For Shaquille, that's the future he wants for his children, right here in Kashmir.
01:03:19And it's a pot of gold, which can offer this richly deserved change
01:03:24for a very misunderstood and vulnerable part of our world.
01:03:34ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS
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