"This is a permanent felling and without any seedlings," said Irfan Ali Shah, a senior official with the government's forest service.

From Europe to Central Asia, white willows or salix alba, are water-hungry, deciduous trees that can reach 30 meters in height. It is also the favorite wood of cricketers.

Their number has increased enormously in Kashmir, under the impetus of the British colonial power in the nineteenth century, with the creation of plantations whose exploitation first intended for firewood for the harsh winters of its mountains, has also made it possible to develop the craft of cricket bats.

"If the government does not help soon to replant on a large scale (...) we will run out of raw materials in three to five years," said Fawzul Kabiir, who makes the International Cricket Council-approved "GR8" bats sold worldwide.

"Bats of the best quality"

"We started looking for them in remote areas of the valley, but there are not many good willows to give bats of the best quality," he told AFP.

The crisscrossing fibers of the willow are very strong and, because they have tiny air pockets, they reduce vibration. The bats gain in lightness but are compact enough to hit the hardest balls with power.

Artisans make cricket bats from Kashmir willow wood, August 19, 2023 in Sangam, India © Tauseef MUSTAFA / AFP

Major bat-makers abroad prefer English willow, but the one that grows in Kashmir serves the manufacture of three million "shapes" of bats a year, the largest volume in the world.

"The best willow bat in Kashmir is well worth the English willow," says Kabiir, who says his clients include cricket greats such as India's Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, Australia's Steve Waugh and South Africans Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers.

His workshop, equipped with a showroom, is located in the small town of Sangam, heart of the manufacture of bats, where tourists can buy them at prices ranging from 12 to 180 dollars (from 11.30 to 170 euros).

"This is our SOS" addressed to the government, Kabiir said. "We can't do it alone."

Kashmir bat makers have thrived to the rhythm of cricket's popularity. Demand surged after India won the 1983 World Cup.

The sport now has more than a billion fans worldwide.

Artisans make cricket bats from Kashmir willow wood, August 19, 2023 in Sangam, India © Tauseef MUSTAFA / AFP

Some 120,000 people work in Kashmir's 400 workshops, according to manufacturers.

This is a key economic contribution to this Muslim-majority region, divided between India and Pakistan, which, since their independence from the partition of British India in 1947, have claimed sovereignty over the entire Himalayan territory.

- 'Quasi-extermination' -

But the willow plantations are running out. Agricultural scientists at Sher-e-Kashmir University have warned that female Kashmir willows, the most suitable for making bats, are victims of "near-extermination".

Nearly a million trees have been cut down in the last decade, some plantations threatened Lake Wular, others in favor of farmland and rice fields.

A craftsman makes a cricket bat out of Kashmir willow wood, August 19, 2023 in Sangam, India © Tauseef MUSTAFA / AFP

Timber industries have turned to poplar.

"A willow matures in 30 years and a poplar in half the time, and they are worth the same price," says Feroz Ahmed Reshi, whose family has provided willow wood to bat makers for generations.

"This year we planted 300 poplars and about five willows," he adds.

Exports to the rest of India and abroad have been banned for 25 years, but "smuggling of our precious raw materials has not stopped," said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

According to forestry official Shah, bat makers will have to "plant their own willow on their own land".

A craftsman makes cricket bats from Kashmir willow wood, August 19, 2023 in Sangam, India © Tauseef MUSTAFA / AFP

But land is scarce in Kashmir and its prices have soared since Indian authorities revoked the region's semi-autonomy in 2019, and allowed Indians from the rest of the country to acquire land in Kashmir for the first time.

© 2023 AFP