Funded by Brakes India and Sundaram Finance Ltd. from May 2019 – Mar 2021 : The work involves an interdisciplinary approach towards conserving and restoring the Agasthyamalai hills landscape in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, India. The work has built awareness among different stakeholders about the natural resources in their backyard while also securing their active participation in conserving them. The project has implemented grassroots activities to engage stakeholders in environmental conservation, encourages them to use environmentally friendly practices for a sustainable coexistence with the biodiversity, conducts awareness programs for school children, conducts bird counts to determine the number of wintering birds coming each year to the tanks in the region, conducts long-term monitoring of trees to understand the impact of climate change on rainforests and studies the impact of global changes on insects, bats and other pollinators, etc. in the region.

The overarching objective will be to restore and enhance biodiversity and strengthen its sustainable use in India. The mission will enable India to become a global leader in biodiversity science by facilitating collaborations at various levels.

Main aims:

• To assess India's biodiversity status in terms of the distribution and conservation
• To develop a professional cadre to handle large sets of environmental data for management and monitoring of biodiversity
• To expand knowledge in ecosystem functioning which provide up-gradation on restoration efforts
• To enhance choices for agricultural production and livelihoods
• To formulate a dynamic biodiversity-based sustainable economy anchored by a reliable information system
• To engage the public for security and the general well-being of society.