The Ecological Restoration Alliance starts this year’s restoration webinar lineup with Reviving Community-led Ecological Memory Systems in Meghalaya Forests, a talk by conservationist and ERA’s innovation grant recipient Joanica Jyrwa. Join us as she introduces her project and explores the potential of indigenous ecological memory and community institutions in shaping conservation and restoration outcomes.
You can register on this link, or by scanning the QR code on the poster below.
Date: January 30, 2026
Time: 4 pm onwards
Venue: Zoom Meeting
About the talk:
How can well-intentioned and ecologically sound restoration efforts still fail? Can we afford to overlook the role of cultural stewardship and community wisdom as we attempt to bring back what is lost?
Can the revival of indigenous ecological memory – rooted in oral traditions, rituals and stories – be a precursor to ecological revival? Can it lead us to develop more culturally anchored restoration practices?
Conservationist Joanica Jyrwa reframes restoration not just as reforestation, but as a revival of relationship — between land, people, and cultural identity.
Her project seeks to revive indigenous knowledge and oral traditions, and integrate them with modern restoration science to strengthen sacred groves and regenerate degraded forests in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya.
In this talk, she will explore the potential of indigenous ecological memory and community institutions to shape conservation and restoration outcomes in Meghalaya. She will also highlight how Biodiversity Management Committees, Citizen science, Traditional knowledge and memory systems can help shape more complete ecological restoration beyond protected areas.
About the Speaker:
Joanica Jyrwa is a community conservationist who works at the intersection of research, governance, and conservation. Her early field-based research in mammal and fish ecology prompted her to focus on community-centric conservation and awareness beyond protected areas. More recently, her work has centred on community wildlife conservation, particularly the study and conservation of clouded leopards, other wild cats, and birds within community-managed landscapes.
She is increasingly convinced that indigenous ecological restoration and participatory approaches are vital for strengthening community stewardship of biodiversity conservation.