One of the main thrusts of our activities is to encourage forest dwelling communities to demonstrate stewardship in conserving the forests and wildlife that lie within their sphere of influence. These communities understand their ecological environment well and can play a vital role in keeping their heritage intact. By linking the conservation activity with eco-based employment, we aim to create a sustainable conservation model.
Conservation efforts that are not owned by the local communities are less likely to succeed in the long run. With increasing pressure on land, these communities could be misled into alienating their environmental heritage for short-term gains.

A large part of declared forests areas are fairly degraded. These are mostly buffer or reserve forests that lie at the periphery of villages. Typically these have sparse forest cover of 20% or less, and excessive grazing by domestic cattle adds to the problem. Afforestation of these lands can improve forest cover and in turn help expand habitats for wildlife and also protect precious migratory corridors. We work closely with Village Forest Committees on such afforestation initiatives. By bringing urban sponsorship for these efforts, we try and ensure their sustenance.

• Sponsor an afforestation drive.
• Sponsor a sapling planting activity.

Most forest areas in South India have limited rain cover and remain dry for a large part of the year. Water harvesting helps in improving the water table and in turn foliage health. We work with Village Forest Committees in water harvesting initiatives along afforested areas like water trenches, ponds, low-cost check dams, etc. A big advantage of these efforts is the increased availability of water for wild animals in the dry seasons.

• Sponsor a water hole.

A single traditional chulha consumes around 15 kgs of firewood a day which translates to over 5 tonnes of wood a year. Multiplied over several families the numbers are huge. This leads to consistent tree and branch felling and also creates human-animal conflicts when people go into the forest to gather firewood. The Philips designed eco-chulhas that we have been trialing consume almost two thirds less firewood. More importantly, these run almost entirely on lantana thus helping reduce spread of lantana. Forest forays for firewood collection also come down by 65% and consequently human-animal conflicts greatly reduced. In addition, the chulhas take half the normal cooking time and are smokeless, making them a boon for the village women.

• Sponsor an eco-chulha.