Our restoration programme in the Western Ghats focuses on the region’s unique, biologically diverse tropical rainforests. These complex ecosystems have historically been victims of severe onslaughts due to human activities, resulting in loss of forest cover, and degradation and fragmentation of remnant forests. Our past research and observations indicate that rainforest conservation goals will not be met by protection alone. One also needs to restore many degraded lands to improve habitat quality for the long-term survival of threatened species that survive within these forest patches as well as to improve landscape-level connectivity of existing patches.

With this in mind, we initiated this restoration project in the Anamalai hills of the Western Ghats. The project is carried out on private lands outside protected areas, which have been conventionally ignored in conservation policy and action. In the tea plantation dominated landscape of the Valparai plateau, NCF has over the last four years struck partnerships with private land-owning plantation companies, a research organisation, and the forest department to identify and restore critical wildlife areas (about 450 ha) which are designated as rainforest biodiversity conservation areas. Besides direct protection and restoration efforts, we document recovery and regeneration in abandoned plantations and degraded rainforest fragments and assess restoration success by monitoring different groups of animals (birds, spiders, mammals).

See the Restoration Project Showcase for an overview and photographs of the restoration and recovery in the fragments.