Our Projects

The Return of Elephants as a Catalyst for Landscape Restoration

In Central India, across ~375,000-hectare forested landscape spanning the Bandhavgarh and Sanjay-Dubri Tiger Reserves, an extraordinary ecological story is unfolding – the return of wild elephants to a region from which they had disappeared more than a century ago. This project is set in the background of this rare natural history event.

Historical records indicate that elephants roamed the forests of Central India as late as the 19th century. However, extensive capture of wild elephants led to their local extinction across much of this region by early 20th century. For over a hundred years, these forests remained without one of their most influential ecological engineers. 

A decade ago, this began to change. Driven by a combination of ecological and human-induced pressures in the neighbouring states, elephants gradually started returning to the forests of Madhya Pradesh. What began as exploratory movements during 2007-08 eventually led to a herd of seven elephants establishing a permanent presence in Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve in 2017. Since then, this extraordinary ecological story has continued to evolve, with the Bandhavgarh-Sanjay Dubri landscape now supporting a resident elephant population of ~97 individuals. In addition, several transient individuals continue to visit the state, reinforcing Madhya Pradesh's emerging role as an important elephant habitat in central India.

This remarkable story presents a unique conservation opportunity. 

Promise and Challenge

As a flagship species, elephants help draw attention, resources, and investments towards large-scale habitat restoration and landscape conservation initiatives. Their presence will help strengthen ecosystem health, enhance biodiversity, improve habitat connectivity, and contribute to long-term community resilience. 

Yet, their return brings significant challenges. Having been absent for more than a century, local communities have little or no living memory of co-existing with these gentle giants. As elephants re-establish themselves in the landscape, interactions between people and elephants increase. Thus, the need to address conflict mitigation and community engagement in this conservation journey of coexistence.

Our Approach

With the foundational research work initiated in 2022, this project was co-designed in partnership with the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department. 

In the Bandhavgarh–Sanjay Dubri landscape, this project explores the return of this charismatic megafauna as a powerful catalyst for restoring landscapes and securing a more sustainable future for both nature and people.

We are working with forest managers and local communities to build a future where people and elephants can co-exist, while ensuring long-term gains to conservation and biodiversity, through:

• Science‑based and proven conflict management strategies, such as demonstration of Inno-fence, trip alarms, flicker lights, chilli-based olfactory deterrents, and other low-cost conflict mitigation measures.

• Collaboration with Forest Department, such as capacity building of frontline staff, equipping forest guards with protective gear, and sharing spatial data on corridors and conflict hotspots.

• Community partnerships, such as strengthening of Elephant Response Teams (including capacity building & provision of protective gear).

• Restoring habitats, such as removal of invasive lantana and piloting conservation-aligned livelihood models.

By 2030, this initiative aims to strengthen management of 300,000 hectares of land, securing a sustainable future where elephants, biodiversity and communities thrive together.

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Acknowledgements

In this conservation journey, we acknowledge our partners, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department and Madhya Pradesh Tiger Foundation Society, for their strategic guidance and support to the project. 

We are grateful to General Atlantic Private Limited, KFin Technologies Limited, Sir Ratan Tata Trust and The Habitats Trust, for the generous financial support extended to this work.

Read More

• Project Brief PDF: Return of the Elephants
• Our Impact in 2025 - Return of the Elephants Highlight
• Photographic Dossier of Wild Elephants of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve

Strengthening Community-based Conservation in Northeast India 

The Northeast region (NER) of India is one of the country’s greatest ecological treasures—home to intact old‑growth forests, rich biodiversity, and the largest carbon store in India. Though it covers only 8% of India’s land, it holds approximately 24% of the country’s forest cover and approximately 28% of its carbon stocks. 

Lying at the confluence of two of India’s four biodiversity hotspots—the Indo-Burma region and the Himalayas—the NER supports exceptional biological and cultural diversity. It is home to more than 200 distinct Indigenous communities, primarily the tribal population, that rely heavily on these forests. 

Yet, this lifeline is under threat. Between 2019 and 2023, the NER lost more than 132,000 hectares of forest cover. Agricultural expansion, tree felling, natural calamities, and development pressures, are driving forest cover loss and declining biodiversity, adversely affecting human well-being and essential ecosystem services that people rely on.

Promise and Challenge 

Barring two states, the communities in NER hold significant decision-making powers over their lands and waters. They often voluntarily protect and restore the biodiversity-rich ecosystems through actions such as establishment of Community Conserved Areas, establishment of fish sanctuaries, management of shifting cultivation fallows. Motivated by the desire to secure ecosystem services and rooted in cultural values associated with species and habitats, such community stewardship represents admirable conservation sentiment at the grassroots level. 

Being representative of the conservation challenges and opportunities from the NER, the states of Meghalaya and Nagaland offer a rare chance to demonstrate community‑based conservation. With more than 80% of forests in the two states being under the direct control of communities, such community-based conservation actions are crucial. However, these initiatives are faced with challenges of sound science, financing and policy linkage. With the right support, these grassroots efforts can be scaled into models of community-led conservation mitigating biodiversity and forest loss, fostering sustainable development.

Our Approach

With the foundational work initiated 2022, this project is being co-developed in partnership with the State Biodiversity Boards of Meghalaya and Nagaland.  

We are working with the government agencies and local communities to build a future where people and nature can thrive, through:

• Fostering inter-generational learning, through documentation of biodiversity (in the form of People’s Biodiversity Registers).

• Strengthening community stewardship and leadership, through prioritisation of conservation actions and their implementation, as well as building capacities of community institutions and leaders. 

• Supporting conservation-aligned livelihood models, such as integration of wild edibles in school mid-day meals and indigenous cafes, community-led ecotourism.

• Mobilising science, policy and finance, to scale this crucial conservation work.

By 2030, this project in the north-east India is aiming to improve management of 500,000 ha of land; improving the ability of 360,000 people to participate in decision-making about their lands, waters and resources; and improving the security of rights of 125,000 people over their lands, waters and resources.

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Recognition 

Our work has been globally and nationally recognised via:

• Selection as a laureate for FAO’s Farmer Field Schools Innovation Award 2025

• Appreciation from the Meghalaya Biodiversity Board for biodiversity documentation that secures community rights

Acknowledgements 

In this conservation journey, we acknowledge our partners, Meghalaya Biodiversity Board and Nagaland State Biodiversity Board, for their strategic guidance and support to the project. 

We are grateful to Karvansarai Investments Private Limited, and Sir Ratan Tata Trust, for the generous financial support extended to this work.

Read More

• Project Brief PDF: Strengthening Communities in NER
• A Meal with a Message
  

Inland water ecosystems and biodiversity conservation in the Western Ghats (INWEST)

Today, India stands at a crossroad—facing a growing water and biodiversity crisis. Rivers, wetlands and aquifers are under immense strain. With the demand projected to be twice the available supply by 2030, water scarcity threatens biodiversity, livelihoods, and economic growth.

The Western Ghats (WG), a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the “hottest biodiversity hotspots” of the world, stretch over 1,600 kilometres along the west coast of India, extending along six states.  Home to a plethora of endemic, rare and unique species, this ecosystem plays a critical role in regulating the regional climate.  With numerous perennial rivers originating from the WG, this water tower of peninsular India provides water to more than 245 million people. 

Yet, pollution, habitat loss, mining and climate change are eroding this lifeline and the dependent biodiversity. Harbouring one of the highest numbers of threatened freshwater species in the Western Ghats, four in ten species here face extinction. Further, by 2040, many rivers here could face severe scarcity, leaving communities and ecosystems vulnerable.

Promise and Challenge

With mounting developmental pressures and their impacts in the Western Ghats, conservation efforts to conserve, restore and improve management of freshwater ecosystems are severely lagging. Freshwater and biodiversity in the Western Ghats are not just environmental concerns—they are about human survival, cultural identity and socio-economic resilience. Protecting them demands urgency, innovation and collaboration across government, civil society and local communities. 

There is an urgent need for identifying and scaling coordinated, collaborative, science-based, nature-based and community-led actions, aligning with state, national and global priorities.

Our Approach

With the foundational work initiated in 2023, the project has focused on Upper Bhima basin in Northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, to further freshwater ecosystem conservation.

Through this project, we are driving conservation impact across key river basins in the Western Ghats. Our two‑pronged approach combines large‑scale systems change with local action:

• At the basin scale, through collaborations, develop shared conservation action plans and sustainable financing to scale solutions.

• At the local scale, through demonstrations, community stewardship and capacity building.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Lal Family Foundation, BP India Private Limited and DSP Asset Managers Private Limited, for the generous financial support extended to this work.

Read More

• Project Brief: Inland water ecosystems and biodiversity conservation in the Western Ghats (INWEST)
• Guardians of River Bhima
  

Integrating Biodiversity and Climate Co-benefits into Planning 

There is increasing global and national interest in synergising actions to address climate change and biodiversity loss, thereby enhancing the integrity of ecosystems and the resilience of human societies that depend on them. A significant amount of funding from both governmental and other sources now flows into Natural Climate Solutions (NCS - actions to mitigate climate change via conservation, restoration and management of forests, grasslands, croplands, and waters). If benefits for biodiversity are purposefully and meaningfully integrated into such actions, the results could be transformative for conservation and climate change mitigation. Such synergies could enhance the flow of funds to a range of species and habitats, and help integrate biodiversity conservation and climate actions, especially outside of protected areas and recorded forest areas. Further, biodiversity ‘co-benefits’ also increase the value of carbon credits from climate investments. 

Promise and Challenge

Despite the increasing interest, achieving this potential remains challenging. Biodiversity is often left out of these investments and without purposeful integration, opportunities to strengthen ecosystems and communities are lost.

Key gaps remain:

• No planning tool to jointly estimate climate and biodiversity benefits.

• Limited field models that deliver both outcomes across diverse habitats.

• Weak linkages to sustainable financing outside protected forests.

Our Approach

The identified gaps are particularly important for habitats (and associated species) that occur outside the protected area network or forest lands. The project aims to fill these gaps in two landscapes, with significant potential for scaling up to other areas: the Dhar landscape and the Sanjay Dubri-Bandhavgarh landscape in Madhya Pradesh. These landscapes are typical of several other in Central India: they receive relatively less conservation attention than many; there are significant information gaps in relation to biodiversity values; and the climate mitigation potential comes from interventions across multiple types of land use, including forest, grasslands, and croplands. Through this work, we plan to develop, test and validate a replicable model for the purposeful integration of biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation actions, including planning tools, implementation models and sustainable finance linkages.

We are developing a replicable model that integrates biodiversity conservation into climate mitigation, combining:

• Planning tools

• Implementation models

• Sustainable finance linkages

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to The Habitats Trust for the generous financial support extended to this work.