June 15, 2023
By Pratim Roy & Shiny Rehel
Founder-Director & Senior Programme Director (Biodiversity)
On June 14, UK-based organization and Keystone’s long-term partner Bees for Development organised their bee garden party fundraiser in central London. Hosted by journalist Martha Kearney, Member of Parliament Gyles Brandreth and celebrity auctioneer Charlie Ross, the party brought together hundreds of attendees including HM the Queen Consort Camilla.
Keystone’s representatives at the event were Founder-Director Pratim Roy and Senior Programme Coordinator of our Biodiversity programme Shiny Rehel. The fundraiser raised over 74,000 pounds largely through auctions and continues to welcome bids virtually. Keystone occupied a stall at the party, presenting canvas boards showcasing photographs of our work in the Nilgiris, with sneak peeks into our various areas of work in apiculture, honey-hunting, and the wealth of our research on non-mellifera Nilgiri bees. We also had our Last Forest honey on display, which was tried and loved by a majority of the attendees, including the Queen.
Bees for Development was launched in the same year as Keystone, in 1993, and has been one of our oldest international partners in pollinator conservation and research since the early 2000s, when the two organisations first collaborated on a consultancy on bees in the Hindu Kush mountains in Nepal. BFD also brought Keystone into the Standing Commission on Beekeeping for Rural Development, of which we have been a member for years. We have also worked on project on bees in Karnataka, along with FAO. During the past year, BFD has been funding beekeeping training programmes held by our Biodiversity team across our field centres in Kotagiri, Pillur, Sigur and other areas.
This global network has been paving the way for our impact in the Nilgiris to deepen, and the history of these hills to reach higher avenues. For example, conversations are now headway on the scope for formalising education and research on nature-based beekeeping at Keystone.
