Ecological Restoration
This program treats restoration as a time-bound governance commitment: five-year land approvals, a Gram Sabha resolution, and village committee stewardship keep commons under continuous protection through the full regeneration window.
The Problem >
The Western Ghats represent a globally significant biodiversity hotspot where deforestation, unregulated grazing, and land-use change have eroded carbon storage, native species assemblages, and local microclimatic regulation across tribal landscapes. Ecological restoration becomes essential under these conditions because microclimate, soil structure, and vegetation dynamics operate as coupled systems that shape long-term ecosystem resilience.
< Our Solution
We restore native forest ecosystems at scale while integrating a ridge-to-valley land treatment that improves infiltration, reduces erosion pressure, and supports regeneration across degraded commons, forest patches, and recharge zones. Restoration efficacy increases when native vegetation recovery is paired with soil and moisture conservation structures that re-establish foundational ecological processes across the catchment.
Active Projects
Community-Led Restoration in Tadoba, Chandrapur
At the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, our foundation is working with one village [Mamla] in the buffer and one [Kolara] in the core to restore degraded land through soil and water conservation, native vegetation revival, and community-led protection. Our approach links this ecological work with secure forest rights, paid restoration labor, and diversified livelihoods based on the sustainable use of non-timber forest products. Anchored by an MoU with the Forest Department, this project aims to reduce pressure on forests, stabilize incomes, and build long-term resilience for both people and wildlife.
Tech-Enabled Forest Rights Facilitation, Nashik
Through our Community Forest Rights (CFR) project, we trained and deployed youth from local colleges to work with 160 villages in three months on mapping forest use, degraded areas and governance needs under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. We helped tribal communities secure CFR titles that recognize their rights to sustainably harvest nutrition- and medicine-rich forest produce and to restore degraded commons as a legally backed livelihood base, using tech-enabled mapping and end-to-end support for claim preparation and submission.
Reviving, What Revives Us, Nashik
At Myna Hill in Dari, Nashik, three years of work under our ReGreen Nation programm has led to an 81% increase in vegetative index based on GIS analysis, with the recovery clearly visible on the ground. Around half of this regeneration comes simply from protecting the hill from grazing and wood felling, while the rest is driven by soil and moisture conservation structures, removal of invasive species, micro-catchments around saplings, fire lines, and frontline firefighting. Farmers at the foothills are already seeing the benefits in rising well levels, the ability to take a second and third crop, and reduced crop losses from waterlogging as the restored forest now functions as a giant sponge.
What We Do
Ecological restoration is delivered through a site-specific technical portfolio designed from local hydrogeology, slope, soil depth, catchment condition, and existing water assets, then implemented as ridge-to-valley soil and moisture conservation, catchment treatment via trenches and bunds, restoration of degraded commons and forest patches, and recharge-focused works such as percolation ponds or loose boulder structures.
< Where
Work spans the Western Ghats, with focus across ecologically valuable and socially vulnerable geographies, including many districts in the Northern Western Ghats landscape where monsoon intensity, shallow soils, and catchment degradation shape restoration priorities. Site selection emphasises locations where ecological regeneration yields multi-scalar benefits, including biodiversity recovery, local livelihood stability, and downstream hydrological resilience.
How >
Implementation follows a five-year regeneration blueprint that begins with site assessment, species selection, and soil preparation, then proceeds through large-scale planting, protective governance, and long-term maintenance. This phased model is reinforced by community-led institutions that coordinate upkeep, monitoring, and shared responsibility, aligning ecological recovery with locally governed management systems built for continuity.
Partners
Problem
Solution
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