Banyan Tree Crafts

Fair Trade Wholesale Lokta Paper Products

Welcome to the website of Banyan Tree Crafts, specialist fair trade wholesaler to UK Fair Trade and Retail businesses.

Banyan Tree Crafts is a family run fair trade business, supporting Nepalese artisans using traditional, sustainable techniques who craft a stunning range of handmade paper products.

Established in 2001, Banyan Tree Crafts has worked with local communities in India and Nepal to promote high quality hand crafted products to retail businesses in the UK.

The Banyan Tree

The National tree of India, the Banyan Tree is a dense canopied tree with aerial roots that can grow over hundreds of years to cover in excess of an acre of ground. Synonymous with trade, the tree's name is derived from the 'Banias', Indian traders who sat below the tree shade to sell their wares.

Sustainable. Renewable. Green.

What is Lokta?

Lokta is the local Nepali name for the Daphne bush, either Daphne Cannabina or Daphne Papyracea

Growing on the lower slopes of the Himalayas, between 2000m and 4000m, Lokta is sustainably harvested under licence each year. The saplings are cut at around 30cm and the plant naturally regenerates, growing to maturity at about 5 years when it can be recropped.

The inner bark is stripped, washed then boiled for several hours and a pulp is created by mashing and mixing with water. This pulp is hand spread on framed natural muslin screens and dried in the sun.

Each handmade sheet is unique with a natural uncut edge which is characteristic of Lokta paper.

Natural styles have flower petals, leaves and seeds added as they dry.

After drying, a variety of natural dyes and colourings can then be applied, including Tibetan tea, walnut shells, rhubarb, saffron, indigo and pomegranate.

After further drying, traditional hand handscreen printing and batik printing techniques are used to decorate each sheet and produce the range of stunning designs available.

The completed paper is fine-textured, strong, naturally resistant to damp and insects and extremely durable making it popular as an ecologically and environmentally friendly natural craft paper and gift wrap.

The Fair Trade movement is growing as people realize that they can help alleviate poverty and protect the environment by choosing Fair Trade products.

Robert Alan Silverstein

Fair Trade Products

Fairtrade provides better prices, decent working conditions and fair terms of trade for farmers, workers and artisans

Investing in Community

Every step in making Lokta paper is done by hand, using local sustainable resources and traditional skills handed down over the generations.

Our paper making project in Nepal actively supports the local community, employing over 100 people in harvesting and crafting the paper products.

Established by two brothers and their cousin, themselves second-generation Tibetan refugees, the project seeks to improve the lives of fellow refugees who are trying to build a new life in Nepal.

As well as providing much needed employment, the project has built and supports an English Language school for Tibetan refugee children.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Nelson Mandela

Contact Us

For up to date price lists and to make an order please get in touch

Banyan Tree Crafts, Home Farm, Stow Bedon, Attleborough, Norfolk NR17 1BZ

07825 139619

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