Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) | Updates

Nature_Conservation · January 15, 2026, 7:31pm

Happy new year!

We are excited to share some updates from NCF

About NCF

NCF established in 1996 as a public charitable trust, is committed to the preservation of India’s rich wildlife heritage through ground- breaking research and innovative conservation approaches. We work in diverse ecosystems, ranging from coral reefs to the high Himalayas, where we meticulously study threatened species such as snow leopards and elephants, alongside lesser-known fauna and ecosystems, and build conservation partnerships with all relevant rights holders and other partners, including indigenous peoples and local communities, schools, corporations, and the government. Synthesising insights from wildlife ecology, social sciences, and stakeholder knowledge, we co-create locally appropriate and socially responsible strategies balancing wildlife conservation while sustaining people’s well-being and livelihoods. Watch an introduction to our work here- Nature Conservation Foundation.
We had an eventful 2024-25 with many new developments, publications, research projects, and continued conservation action and engagement. These are detailed in our 2024-25 annual report, which you can find here: Annual Report 2024-25 .

Updates from NCF

Khayal: A Lakshadweep Outreach and Community Engagement Initiative

Khayal is a communication and outreach initiative organised by the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) under its Oceans and Coasts Program. The Oceans and Coasts Program has been working continuously in the Lakshadweep Archipelago for over two decades. Khayal was conceptualised as a platform to initiate conversations with local communities, using visual storytelling as an entry point for dialogue, reflection, and collective thinking about nature and sustainability.
As part of this effort, NCF has produced two documentaries- Choora and Onnaam Fira. Choora, which was released in 2024, documents the traditional pole-and-line tuna fishing practices of Lakshadweep, highlighting the skill, patience, and cultural significance of this sustainable fishing method. You can watch Chhora here:
Choora | A Lakshadweep Ways Of Life Documentary | By Nature Conservation Foundation

Onnaam Fira focuses on life in Lakshadweep during the holy month of Ramzan, capturing how daily routines, food practices, and fishing activities change during this period. Both films are rooted in local experiences and were created to reflect the ecological and cultural rhythms of island life. Onnam Fira is yet to be released through YouTube.

For the past few weeks, our oceans and coasts team has been engaged in conducting travelling festivals in the inhabited islands of Lakshadweep where the documentaries are screened and open discussions are held. As we continue to engage in conversations across the islands, we envision Khayal as the starting point of discussions on climate change and ways of life in Lakshadweep.

Courses in Conservation Leadership
NCF initiated courses in Conservation Leadership under the School of Science and Conservation in 2019. These courses are meant for conservation practitioners and span essential conservation skills including project planning, fund raising, monitoring and evaluation of programmes, effective stakeholder engagement, and effective communication.
Our highly appreciated course, Exploring the Social and Historical Dimensions of Conservation was held in September, led by M.D. Madhusudan, Rohan Arthur and Suri Venkatachalam. Attended by 22 participants, the course sparked exciting dialogues around distinct epochs of conservation. This 5-day workshop assisted the participants with developing a broad flavor for and critical appreciation of the complex social and historical dimensions of conservation.

We launched an exciting Conservation Law course in August 2025, attended by 21 participants. Taught in English, Malayalam, and Hindi, the course demystified complex legal language in conservation legislation and policy to enable the participants to engage critically with environmental law at the national level. We have more conservation leadership courses scheduled in the coming months with experienced faculty and diverse practitioners coming from all over the country.

Read more about our work on the NCF website (Nature Conservation Foundation ) and keep updated with upcoming events through our social media handles: NCF-Facebook, NCF-Instagram.

Have a great year ahead!

Nature_Conservation · April 30, 2026, 4:55pm

Some of the activity highlights from the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF)!

NCF at the Pakke Paga Hornbill Festival 2026

The Pakke Paga Hornbill Festival, a three-day event, is celebrated every year in Seijosa, a small town situated on the banks of the Pakke River and with the scenic backdrop of the Pakke Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary known for its tigers, elephants, and hornbills. The festival is celebrated by the Nyishi community, the largest ethnic group in Arunachal Pradesh, along with the Forest Department of Arunachal Pradesh and the local administration, to promote community conservation in the state. The festival was started in 2015 and was later declared an important state festival to celebrate the idea of conservation and its interlinkages with culture.

This year the festival commenced on 18 January 2026, where NCF collaborated with the Pakke Tiger Reserve Management to host a dance drama called Nyolo Tuki, a love story of hornbills. The dance was performed by 17 women from Darlong, a village adjacent to the Pakke Tiger Reserve. The performance was choreographed by Sangeetha Ishwaran to a song of the same name, sung by Mema Tok from A2 village, another small village in the vicinity of the Pakke Tiger Reserve. Nyolo Tuki is a folk song adapted to portray the travails of a hornbill pair that is trying to raise chicks in a forest afflicted by deforestation and hunting.

The NCF team also presented a poster entitled, “Hornbills of Pakke: guardians of the forest - 20+ years of watching forest through hornbill eyes.” The poster was based on the study of more than 20 years of continuous monitoring of hornbill nesting in Pakke Tiger Reserve. The long-term data allowed us to look beyond short-term ups and downs and understand whether hornbill populations are truly changing over time.

Shaping Resilience: NCF Insights at the IUCN World Conservation Congress

Dr. Arundhati Jagadish, from the Conservation Social Sciences programme was part of a plenary at the 2025 IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi on Shaping Resilience, Scaling Impact. Arundhati presented the scaling framework developed through her Catalyzing Conservation initiative that explains how and why some conservation interventions scale and better understand when scaling is appropriate and what conditions facilitate the process. The panel included other scaling experts and conservation investors who all shared their ideas on what works, when, and why.

The State of India’s Bats (2024-2025)
The SoIBats report was formally launched on 15th April 2026. Compiled by 34 researchers from 27 institutions (led by NCF and our partner Bat Conservation International) over two years, the report is an exhaustive treatise providing invaluable guidance on advancing conservation of these misunderstood animals. The data, perspectives, and recommendations contained herein provide an overview of the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing Indian chiropterology, and serves as a guide for future priorities in the coming decade.

This monumental report was launched at WWF-India, New Delhi at the hands of Mr Saumitra Dasgupta, IFS, Mr. Ravi Singh, Mr. S.S. Rasaily, IFS, and Mr. Abhilash Khandekar. The report’s release was followed by public bat walks organised in collaboration with WWF-India to mark the occasion of International Bat Appreciation Day (17th April).

Check out State of India’s Bats report here!

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suhelq · August 27, 2026, 12:13pm

Some updates from the Education and Public Engagement programme of the Nature Conservation Foundation

Our programme focuses on connecting people with nature; we do this through a variety of means (communications, outreach, education, citizen science, training).

Here’s a selection of what’s been happening in the past few months.

Launch of the Campus Biodiversity Register

Our Nature on Campus team, in collaboration with the National Biodiversity Authority of India, launched the Campus Biodiversity Register in July 2026. This is a yearlong initiative that invites colleges and universities to document biodiversity on their campuses using platforms like iNaturalist, eBird and SeasonWatch. By the end of the project, participating institutions will have the information, skills and resources needed to create a Campus Biodiversity Register - a living record of the biodiversity found on campuses. So far, 216 campuses from 31 out of the 36 states and UTs of India have registered to participate. Registration is open until November 2026.

Registered college/university campuses for the Campus Biodiversity Register

SeasonWatch’s new app

SeasonWatch is one of our oldest citizen science initiatives. Children and adults use the SeasonWatch protocols and platform to track seasonal patterns of leaves, flowers and fruits of trees, and how these might be changing as the climate changes. Earlier this year, we added brand new features to our Android app to allow users to upload tree photos through the app and automatically identify common trees. Here’s a short video about the new app. A huge thanks to the tech team at Nature’s Ark for partnering with us on this!

New features on the SeasonWatch app

Nature learning in rural libraries

As part of our work with the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Commissionerate, we conducted a training workshop for c.140 Gram Panchayat librarians from Vijayanagar district, Karnataka. The programme introduced librarians to nature-based learning through ಪ್ರಕೃತಿಯ ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆ (Prakrutiya Pettige) – our nature education kit. We also conducted online sessions on Nature Journalling, The Secret World of Plants / ಸಸ್ಯಗಳ ಮಾಯಾಜಾಲ, The World of Spiders / ಜೇಡಗಳ ಜಗತ್ತು, and Lichens / ಹೂವಲ್ಲದ ಕಲ್ಲುಹೂವು. These sessions were attended by children from across Karnataka through Arivu Kendras (Gram Panchayat libraries). We have also started a monthly short-video series, “Parisara Arivu Taare”, which showcases and celebrates the work and initiatives of Gram Panchayat librarians who are engaging their communities with nature learning.

Librarians drawing birds

Great Backyard Bird Count / Campus Bird Count

This year’s annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) event was bigger than ever. GBBC is a global 4-day event where birdwatchers record birds around them and upload observations to the eBird platform. India has been participating since 2013, under the Bird Count India umbrella.

This year, India ranked 4th globally in species recorded (1,093 species documented; nearly 80% of all birds ever recorded in the country). And we stood 2nd in participation (62,800 bird checklists contributed by 7,300 birders), with several States and UTs seeing participation from every single district. The parallel event on campuses across the country, Campus Bird Count, saw more than 800 bird walks organised on 500 college and university campuses. Detailed results are here.

GBBC participation map

Until next time!

Nature_Conservation · September 3, 2026, 5:42am

New addition to the book shelf!!

The Ghost of the Mountains: Unraveling the Secrets of the Snow Leopards

Author: Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi (Kullu is the Director of the India Program of the Snow Leopard Trust, and a scientist with the Nature Conservation Foundation)
The Ghost of the Mountains

In the Ghost of the Mountains, Kulbhushansingh offers an evocative and personal account of his decades-long journey working across high altitude peaks to protect snow leopards and their fragile habitats. The book chronicles his exhilarating field adventures on the high peaks to his efforts to build a community-based, collaborative model for protecting the snow leopards and their remaining habitat which are increasingly under threat as encroaching development, ongoing armed conflict, and rapidly intensifying climate change transform this region.

“Compelling and intimate… . This is a gritty and detailed portrait of an often misunderstood and endangered species in an increasingly hostile, crowded and hot environment… . The effect of this book is a gradual stripping away of mystification, revealing the snow leopard to be fragile and beautiful just like any other inhabitant of high mountain ranges… but no less wondrous for it, and no less deserving of our attention and respect.” —The Guardian

High Altitude Program’s work on Snow Leopards
NCF’s High Altitude Program strives to conserve the snow leopard, as well as the diversity of life and landscapes that this beautiful cat symbolizes - in a scientifically robust and socially responsible manner. We combine research, community involvement, conservation education and policy-level dimensions.

A key area that we work in, is understanding the population and distribution of snow leopards, primarily across the Western Himalaya. This includes Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. This is important because a lack of robust estimates of population size of this key species are missing from various parts of the Himalaya. A particularly fascinating part of this work is the women-led camera trapping initiative that started in Kibber village and now is slowly spreading across Spiti. By harnessing the unique skills and knowledge of women, who are often left out of the conservation discourse, we not only enhance conservation efforts but also deepen the connection between communities and the natural world they are committed to protecting.

We co-design conservation interventions with local communities, which include community-run insurance programs, predator-proofing of livestock corrals and crop guarding initiatives.These initiatives, rooted in economic incentives, community engagement, and innovative solutions, have not only reduced large carnivore persecution but also fostered a greater tolerance for wildlife like snow leopards.

Finally, a key pillar of our work is to build a pro-conservation constituency across the high Himalayan landscape, by sharing the wonders and importance of wildlife with local people. We do this through nature camps with school children, wildlife photo exhibitions and birding events to state a few.

Nature Education Program (NEP)

In the last 2 years, we have focussed on building alliances and engaging with a growing network of conservation practitioners, community groups, nature educators and restoration initiatives, creating new opportunities for collaboration across the region. This approach has helped move partnerships beyond networking towards shared learning, capacity building and locally led action for hornbill conservation, forest restoration and nature education.

The EHP began a formal Nature Education Program (NEP) in 2017 in partnership with the Pakke Tiger Reserve management, Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department. The vision of the NEP is to foster appreciation, love and stewardship for nature through immersive nature education practices with indigenous communities, especially children and youth as future custodians of their natural heritage. The highlight is the nature camps conducted in the Pakke Tiger Reserve for which specific modules were designed. From 2017 to 2026, we have engaged with over 3000 students from 11 schools and 100 adults (teachers, nature educators and Forest Department frontline staff).

From 2023 to 2025, the NEP has built a growing network of nature educators from 15+ organizations across Northeast India and North Bengal. This work is in partnership with Canopy Collective and Green Hub. We conducted three regional workshops, bringing together 67 nature educators, of whom 57 (85%) remain actively engaged in nature education and related activities. This sustained engagement indicates that the workshops have moved beyond one-time training to foster an ongoing peer network in which educators exchange ideas, strengthen skills, and engage in cross-learning initiatives.

A key outcome has been the development of Where the Forest Teaches, a nature education manual bringing together activities rooted in the forests, wildlife and landscapes of Northeast India that was co-developed by workshop participants. This provides a practical resource for educators.

Building on the interest generated through these workshops, we have also begun to strengthen nature education capacity within communities. Region-specific trainings were conducted for 28 community youth and schoolteachers in villages near Neora Valley National Park in North Bengal. They are now working towards developing nature education activities that are drawing on local culture, community knowledge and people’s lived relationships with nature to create activities that are locally relevant. Overall, the programme directly engaged 95 participants and helped build a sustained network of nature educators capable of developing and delivering locally relevant conservation education. This work has been supported by DTCC and Whitley Fund for Nature.

Until next time!

Nature_Conservation · October 12, 2026, 6:29am

Updates from the Western Ghats

Restoration season

For Nature Conservation Foundation teams in the Western Ghats, the onset of the Asian southwest monsoon around early June marks the beginning of the rainforest restoration season. Or more precisely, the restoration planting season, because restoring rainforests is a year-round (and lifelong) activity. Planting during this relatively cool and moist season helps young rainforest trees best prepare for the subsequent dry season and other hardships that follow. Our maximum diversity mixed-native species planting strategy aims to introduce 500-1000 saplings of 60-80 native tree species per hectare of restored forest. By planting several species that are endemic (unique to the Western Ghats), rare and classified by the IUCN as globally threatened, and important food plants for native wildlife, our goal is to conserve and revive refuges for rainforest biodiversity in landscapes increasingly dominated by plantation crops such as tea, coffee, and cashewnut.

This year, we worked with village communities, private landowners, coffee planters, tea plantation companies, and State Forest Departments to initiate rainforest restoration in 21 ha of abandoned coffee and tea plantations, deforested and repeatedly burned lands, and degraded sacred groves and Reserved Forests across the Anamalai Hills (Tamil Nadu), Malenadu (Karnataka), and Sahyadri (Maharashtra). We planted 13,633 saplings of 194 native species overall. The more open and disturbed sites were planted with hardy and disturbance-tolerant native species such as Red cedar (Toona ciliata) and wild cinnamon (Cinnamomum malabatrum). In sites that had some preexisting canopy cover (e.g., abandoned coffee plantation), we planted more shade-tolerant rainforest specialists such as the endangered Palaquium ravii and hornbill favourites Myristica beddomei and Dysoxylum malabaricum. All plants came from local seeds, sourced from roadsides, forest edges, and coffee plantations, and raised in restoration nurseries operated by NCF and a few of our local partners in the project landscapes.

With the monsoon now receding, our focus shifts to maintenance and monitoring. Previous experiences have taught us that keeping a close eye on planted sites for at least an initial year or two and maintaining firelines, controlling weeds, and protecting and watering saplings can increase early survival and growth and improve chances of long-term recovery. The good news this year is that over 95% of the planted saplings have survived so far despite the weak and erratic monsoon. The imminent ‘Super’ El Niño is a cause for uncertainty and concern, but perhaps also an unwanted opportunity to learn how rainforests respond and restoration projects must adapt to a rapidly changing climate.

New book on trees!

The Trees of My Country: A Natural History of India in 50 Trees

This new book is a collaboration between NCF scientist T R Shankar Raman and artist Manali Patil is a celebration of trees of India—from the mundane to the magnificent—through evocative word portraits and beautiful botanical art.

Stimulating wonder, this eloquent call to arms both informs and impels us to act on behalf of trees, recognizing them as living beings whose lives and futures are entangled with our own. Now available in bookstores and online. Watch the authors chat about trees and their book at the Some Like it Wild podcast, Books and Authors podcast, and Greenlitfest.

Training programs for forest officers

NCF scientists working in the Western Ghats conducted two courses on restoration for Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers at different career stages. We led a three-day course on “Ecological Restoration” that was offered as an elective to IFS probationers at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun from July 2 to 11, 2026. The course combined conceptual sessions and group discussions led by NCF scientists with practitioner perspectives led by distinguished former officers. Twenty one probationers attended the course. Second, we contributed to a three-day residential workshop on the “Principles and Practice of Ecological Restoration” held for 32 serving IFS officers at the Keystone Foundation campus in Kotagiri, Nilgiris, from September 9 to 11, 2026. This mid-career training and capacity-building initiative was led by the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), in collaboration with Keystone Foundation, Ecological Restoration Alliance-India (ERA-India), Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), and Adavi Trust. The course combined interactive lectures, case studies, and field visits to develop key concepts on ecosystem degradation, restoration monitoring, policy, and community participation. Both courses underscore growing collaborative efforts between forest officials and civil society to advance science-based, community-inclusive landscape restoration across India.

Some of our recent scientific publications

Madhavan, A. P., Bhat, K., Kasinathan, S., Mudappa, D., Page, N., and Raman, T. R. S. 2026. Distribution models predict climate-related range alteration or extinction of eleven threatened tropical rainforest trees in the Western Ghats Journal of Biosciences 51: 43. Client Challenge
Surendra, A. and Raman, T. R. S. 2026. Fragment area and habitat quality underlie temporal decline and community changes in rainforest birds within long-isolated fragments, Ornithological Applications 128:1-13. https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithapp/duag040
Krishnan, A., Nag, J., Arun, S., Mudappa, D., Raman, T.R.S., Sankaran, M. and Osuri, A.M. 2026. Partial recovery of large seed arrival following ecological restoration in fragmented tropical rainforests. Oikos e11945. https://doi.org/10.1002/oik.11945
Karthick, V., Dass, S., Sadekar, V., Naniwadekar, R., and Osuri, A. M. 2026. Land use and climate shape amphibian multidimensional diversity and conservation in a coffee agroforestry landscape, Western Ghats. Biological Conservation, 322, 112057. Redirecting
Chethana, A., Naniwadekar, R., and Osuri, A. M. 2026. Multifaceted but understudied potential impacts of alien coffee on tropical forest regeneration. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 42, e29. Multifaceted but understudied potential impacts of alien coffee on tropical forest regeneration | Journal of Tropical Ecology | Cambridge Core
Madhu, N., Sadekar, V., Jayapal, R., and Naniwadekar, R. 2026. Effects of Land‐Use Intensification on Floral Resources, Bird Assemblages and Bird‐Flower Interaction Networks in the Western Ghats, India. Biotropica, 58, e70262. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.70262
Biswas, N., Biniwale, S., Sadekar, V., Taneja, Y. V., Suryawanshi, K., Osuri, A., and Naniwadekar, R. 2026. Securing lowland forests is critical for bird conservation in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot. Oryx, 1-11. Securing lowland forests is critical for bird conservation in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot | Oryx | Cambridge Core
Gosavi, N., Lad, H., Jithin, V., and Naniwadekar, R. (2026). Effects of tree plantations on population and roosting ecology of an endemic agamid lizard in the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot. Journal of Zoology, 328, 67-75. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.70070Digital%20Object%20Identifier%20(DOI)

Nature_Conservation · November 4, 2026, 6:20am

Updates from the Nature Conservation Foundation and its Oceans and Coasts Programme!

El Niño and its impacts across ecosystems

The approaching 2026/27 El Niño is likely to bring exceptional climatic conditions to marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems in India. Its consequences vary in different parts of the world. In India, El Niño events are typically associated with higher temperatures and a delayed/reduced monsoon.
In September, NCF initiated a call to fellow ecologists to respond by strengthening and expanding research and monitoring efforts to better understand the effects of extreme climate events on the natural world and connected social systems. This call to action was supported by 188 scientists from around the country.

A link to the call to action can be found here: Responding to the 2026/27 ‘Super’ El Niño: A Call to Ecologists | Zenodo

Monitoring of coral bleaching across the country

Coral reef ecosystems show the most evident signs of heat stress. In October, National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR-NIO), NCF, WCS India, and Dakshin Foundation, hosted a workshop to build a collaborative network to monitor the impacts of the upcoming El Niño events on India’s coral reefs.

The workshop was attended by participants from 20 institutions, MoEF&CC, state forest departments, and citizen scientists. Over two days, participants shared knowledge on the historical and current state of coral reefs in India, and the impacts of climate change and local stressors on reef health. They discussed major challenges and the way forward for coral reef research and conservation in India, drafted a uniform protocol to monitor India’s coral reefs and assess El Niño impacts, and deliberated on bridging the science-policy gap.

The handbook for the to the Pan-India El Niño 2026-27 Bleaching Monitoring Effort can be found here:

Know Your Fish Initiative

The Know Your Fish initiative aims to address the problem of overfishing by advocating for seafood consumers to make responsible choices about their seafood consumption. The initiative raises awareness by broadcasting a seafood calendar each month that specifies which fish make better choices to consume and which to avoid due to the species breeding in that month or being caught along with species that are breeding during that period. The Know Your Fish initiative does this through platforms like Instagram, a website and through workshops.

The Know Your Fish initiative began in 2017 with recommendations for responsible seafood choices for species caught from the west coast. In October of 2026, we officially added recommendations from the eastern coast to the calendar. At present, efforts to reach consumers have led to over 44,300 followers on Instagram and a reach of over 300,000 monthly views.

More updates to follow!