The Ecological Restoration Alliance invites you to their next webinar: Restoring a River Corridor: A Model for the Western Ghats – where ecologist Neethi Mahesh will tell us the story of her river restoration work undertaken with the Jenu Kuruba community in Coorg.
We hope to see you there. You can register on this link, or by scanning the QR code on the poster below.
Date: December 18, 2025
Time: 4 pm onwards
Venue: Zoom Meeting
About the talk:
Riparian zones bridge the realms of land and water, and are a critical part of freshwater ecosystems. They often feature unique vegetation, support a rich diversity of both aquatic and terrestrial fauna, and offer flood control and other crucial ecosystem services.
10 years ago, ecologist Neethi Mahesh’s study on the critically endangered Humpback mahseer took her to the rapidly shrinking riparian corridors of the upper Cauvery, also home to the endangered Smooth-coated Otter. Witnessing these species’ dependence on these unique habitats, she has since worked to conserve and restore them in the Dubare Reserve Forest, Coorg.
In this talk, Neethi will narrate her story of riparian restoration, undertaken with members of the local Jenu Kuruba community. Making a case for a tailored conservation-restoration strategy unique to these ecosystems, she will also shed light on some emerging ideas for invasive fish management, and touch upon the challenges her team has faced to sustain this project.
She will also highlight some tools developed by her team that can aid riparian restoration projects elsewhere, and underscore the support such projects need from the research and conservation community at large.
About the Speaker:
Neethi Mahesh is a River ecologist, Conservationist and Nature educator. She has always been drawn to rivers, and in the past conducted a spatial ecology study on the endangered Mahseer fish, which eventually led to her riparian conservation-restoration work in the Cauvery. She draws hope from working with children and engaging with communities, and runs Our River, Our Life — a river monitoring initiative to build support for river conservation.
See you on the call.