Lantana camara, the world's most widespread plant invasive species, dominates 40% of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve with only 15% being lantana-free. It suppresses native grasses, alters fire-regimes, and reduces forage availability for herbivores like gaur and deer, directly affecting predator dynamics. Over the last 5 years, working with partners, The Shola Trust has developed a community-owned, self-financing approach to clearing lantana using ecologically appropriate machines and selling the biomass. But restoration remains a key challenge. Soil in cleared lantana areas often lacks sufficient seed reserves of native plant species (grasses) that could be restored to stabilize the system or prevent reinvasion by secondary invasives. Traditional restoration efforts have been successful in small pockets of forests, but are expensive, and not designed to scale. This project proposes a community - managed post removal restoration and management model centred around restoration of the grassy understorey post lantana removal, combined with ongoing innovation using drone imagery and bioacoustics to monitor restoration on the scale of thousands of hectares a year. We aim to restore a minimum of 100 hectares to demonstrate a scalable, financially sustainable restoration model, creating one of India's largest grass nurseries, strengthening community-based monitoring capacity, and improving hardware and AI capabilities in bioacoustics and drone-based ecological monitoring.
Two out of five amphibians are threatened with extinction (Leudtke et al., 2023), making them the most threatened vertebrates worldwide. There are over 9,000 amphibian species in the world, and India harbors 5% of them. On the one hand, about 200 species of a total of 475 are threatened with extinction in India; on the other hand, over 250 new amphibians have been described since 2000, at a rate of 10 species per year, clearly suggesting research is confined to new species discovery and/or taxonomic revision, while very little has been done on ecology and on-the-ground conservation. This project proposes to work in species-rich, human-shaped landscapes and protected areas in the Western Ghats. This is not only to understand the impacts of landuse, landcover, and climate change on amphibians, but also to enable community-led conservation of endangered and common amphibian species. They achieve this by conducting hands-on workshops and engagements with the local community on the importance and ecosystem services of amphibians. Collaborating with the local community, Batrachariums are proposed in private agroforest habitats. Over 100 sq km of private conservation area and habitats of 10 endangered species will be conserved. Mobile apps, Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) devices, and water analysis kits are used for monitoring.
The Nilgiri–Moyar landscape supports India’s last viable populations of three Critically Endangered vulture species. This project adopts a One Health approach, recognizing that the survival of these apex sanitary workers is linked to ecosystem stability and human public health. The decline of vultures has created an ecological void, leading to a surge in dog populations and an increased risk of rabies and zoonotic disease transmission to local communities and wildlife. Building on twelve years of Arulagam’s conservation legacy, this initiative aims to secure a functional Vulture Safe Zone by addressing interconnected threats. Key interventions include mitigating toxic Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) infiltration, preventing retaliatory carcass poisoning, and managing the "dog menace" through anti - rabies vaccination and advocacy for Animal Birth Control. By empowering indigenous communities as primary health and conservation custodians, the project bridges the gap between grassroots action and institutional policy. This integrated model not only protects three flagship species from extinction, but also restores the natural carcass-disposal system, ensuring a safer, healthier environment for both wildlife and people. This scalable approach serves as a definitive blueprint for long-term, community-led vulture recovery in India.
This project aims to improve governance and management of 10000 hectares of community forests through Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) in Assam. Forests in the Assam Hills District (Dima Hasao Autonomous District Council-DHADC) are largely under community ownership, and the protection of forests and other natural resources is traditionally an age-old practice of local communities. CCAs are spread across the hills district and exist in the form of community forests, sacred groves, conservation reserves, wetlands, etc., and are traditionally governed by indigenous community institutions such as the Village Council and Chieftainship. However, DHADC is experiencing erratic rainfall, a change in temperature, and more frequent natural disasters due to climate change. Given these challenges, there is a great need to strengthen and sustain local conservation efforts to mitigate climate change risks, improve carbon sequestration, and support the livelihoods of the rural poor. This project seeks to strengthen the governance and management of CCAs by enhancing the capacities of local communities in planning and executing sustainable management strategies to prevent further CCA degradation. As an outcome, this initiative aims to support forest conservation, biodiversity management and governance, improve jhum management and agro-biodiversity plantations, and protect and manage spring sheds protection/management—thereby improving and maintaining carbon sinks.
While the Ganges River Dolphin is categorised as Endangered on IUCN Red List and included in the Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, no detailed studies exist on them in the Bhagirathi-Hooghly River system since 2010. Their survival in this river system is also threatened by accidental killing through entanglement in fishing gear; deliberate killing, generally for dolphin oil; and overexploitation of prey, mainly due to the widespread use of non-selective fishing gear. For their conservation, NEWS has an action plan. They aim to update the population status and map the current distribution of the Ganges River Dolphin and associated faunas like gharial, Smooth- coated Otter, softshell turtle and fishes in the Bhagirathi-Hooghly riverine system. Additionally, they will engage local communities through training and promote sustainable fishing gears to mitigate inadvertent killing of dolphins as bycatch. A Dolphin Conservation Network will also be formed for all stakeholders to interact, and local youths will be trained as stewards for regular monitoring and to generate alternative livelihood means via ecotourism.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands are known for their marine diversity, but they are also home to numerous karst land caves – which are not included in the global karst land map. Caves are the most significant landforms in karst lands and have been silent witnesses of Earth’s evolution and the rise of human civilizations. Caves have retained and protected important pieces of Earth’s long and tumultuous geological past. These range from ancient mineral deposits, long-gone oceans and early life forms to unique cave-adapted organisms, extinct megafauna remains and the early manifestation of human art.
For over two decades, it is known that there are close to 400 limestone karstic caves in around 23 islands here. Of these, around 200 caves are protected to save the Edible-nest Swiftlet breeding inside them. These unique limestone caves in the karst lands hold terrestrial and aquatic microhabitats bearing several known and unknown species, and are under tremendous anthropogenic pressure. Also, as caves and other karst geo-forms are very attractive geo-tourism sites, it is essential to have guidelines for their sustainable use as these tropical islands, with harsh climatic conditions, have limited natural resources for economic development.
SACON proposes a sustainable approach for the comprehensive management of cave habitats. The current proposal attempts to understand sustainable strategies for the conservation of the cave habitats at three sites in North and Middle Andaman Islands: Baratang Island, Chalis-ek, and the Interview Island Wildlife Sanctuary of Middle Andaman. These caves are known to bear endemic and threatened fauna (including Andaman Horseshoe Bat and the recently discovered Ravi Sankaran’s Rock Shrimp).
For the same, SACON aims to collect, process and evaluate the data required for preparing the cave conservation plan. They will also identify the constraints, threats, and opportunities for conserving the caves and the surrounding karst areas. Lastly, they will prepare the conservation plan for the select caves and surrounding karst lands. This will be done with a participatory approach with the local communities and will also generate livelihood.
