Project location

Sadhana Forest, Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India

Project Impact

Sadhana forest’s primary aim in Tamil Nadu is to restore the endangered Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest. Since the beginning of the project, over 27,000 trees have been planted, the majority of which have survived and are showing slow but steady growth. Since its inception, Sadhana Forest has reforested over 70% of its land, with native species.

In addition, they take a  holistic approach to restoration that goes beyond just tree planting. 

Water conservation: Because Sadhana Forest lies on a watershed of red earth and clay, in which ravines and canyons are easily formed by heavy monsoon rains, a major problem on the land is water-flow control and conservation. Sadhana Forest aims to achieve zero water runoff, by recontouring lands including building check dams (8 built so far), bunding (over many kilometers so far), and directing remaining runoff to forested areas where absorbency is high.

With five years of intensive water conservation work, they saw a dramatic rise of the local water table which rose by 6 meters (20 feet), from an average of 8 meters (26 feet) in depth in 2003, to an average of 1.8m (6 feet) in depth in 2008. Consequently, wells in the neighboring villages that were dry for 15 - 20 years are now providing water throughout the year.

Educating communities: Sadhana Forest has hosted more than 5000 residential participants since it’s inception in 2003 on sustainable living, reforestation and water conservation. They have held Permaculture courses, workshops, hosted school groups, students from India and abroad, and have helped train foresters from the India National Forest Department.

Nurturing children: On December 27th, 2009 Sadhana Forest India started a project called Children’s Land. This 2.7 acre project is meant to empower local children to think creatively and independently about sustainability.

In Children’s Land the children choose how they would like to develop the piece of land allocated to them. Many are quite surprised initially, but eventually local children have designed and developed with adult supervisionl, gardens, compost toilets and even recycling workshops. 

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Why plant in India

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Project Details

Why is forest restoration urgent?

According to the FAO and UNEP World Forest Situation Report - 2022; UN Convention on Biological Diversity, 

  • Since 2015, 10 million hectares of forests have disappeared every year. 
  • Forests are home to over 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity.
  • 150 animal and plant species disappear every day.
  • Trees help reduce air temperature by  2 to 8°C.
  • Restoring 1 Billion hectares of forests is necessary to limit global warming to +1.5°C by 2030.

It has never been more urgent to restore our forests.

What is the current state of Tamil Nadu’s forests?

Each region of the world has a vegetation type that has, over countless eons, evolved as the plant community most suited to the environmental conditions of the area. The Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest (TDEF) is the indigenous forest of the coastal seaboard of Southeast India, including the region of Tamil Nadu.

Historically, the forest extended from Vishakapatanam to Ramanathapuram as a belt of vegetation between 30 and 50 km wide, bordered on one side by the sea and on the other side by a forest that becomes increasingly deciduous as one moves inland. It contains over 160 woody species of which around 70 are found within the pristine climax forest.

However, today the TDEF is on the verge of extinction as only 0.01% of this vast forest remains in small patches. The highly degraded state of the forest and the high human population pressure means that today, larger predatory mammals can no longer be found in the region, leaving behind a much smaller population of smaller mammals, reptiles and a dwindling bird population of 80 species.

How is Sadhana forest restoring the TDEF?

Sadhana Forest aims to restore parts of the TDEF with original native species, through environmentally conscious and sustainable reforestation practices.

They are also replacing the earlier-planted exotic species, such as acacias from Australia, with native TDEF species, that are viable in the long run. Since the beginning of the project, over 27,000 trees have been planted, the majority of which have survived and are showing slow but steady growth. Since its inception, Sadhana Forest has reforested over 70% of its land, with native species.

They also run free educational workshops with the purpose of informing people about the history of the land, of its former devastation, and the ecological steps being taken to replant and restore it. 

UN Sustainable Development Goals contributed to

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 interconnected global objectives aimed at addressing pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges by 2030. They serve as a blueprint for collective action, guiding governments, businesses, and communities worldwide towards a more sustainable and equitable future.

This project contributes to the following goals
See all 17 goals

Verification

For each tree planted with Sadhana forest, the patron will receive evidence of the planting in the form of a photograph of the planted tree, species detail and the exact date and co-ordinate of planting. Patrons are welcome to visit their trees at any time.