Harit Ekam launched to enable citizen-led forest restoration
A new citizen-driven forest restoration initiative, Harit Ekam, was formally launched in Bengaluru, offering individuals and institutions a direct and tangible mechanism to participate in the long-term ecological restoration of degraded forest landscapes across India.
Anchored in the principle that forest conservation thrives when citizens transition from observers to participants, Harit Ekam provides a simple yet powerful pathway for engagement. Contributors can now support micro-level restoration by ‘adopting’ Forest Restoration Units (FRUs) — each unit representing one square metre of forest land — thereby ensuring perpetual protection, regeneration, and ecological stewardship of the plot.
The initiative is implemented under Aranya.TV, the digital conservation platform of the Kanak Krishna Srivastava Social Welfare Trust (KKSSWT). The Trust plays a crucial role by acquiring degraded or abandoned private lands, taking them under its permanent ownership, and exclusively dedicating them to forest restoration and conservation. The inaugural pilot project is situated on a 2.29-acre private forest enclosure within the
ecologically sensitive Bhimgarh Wildlife Sanctuary landscape. Located in Hemmadga village, Khanapur taluk of Belagavi district, Karnataka, the site comprises 11,097 Forest Restoration Units. Early confidence in the model is reflected by the substantial number of FRUs already adopted by institutional supporters.
Founders, at the launch, underscored that Harit Ekam effectively bridges the chasm between good intentions and concrete action. The platform offers a transparent, measurable, and enduring pathway for forest restoration. Critically, the programme distinguishes itself from conventional plantation drives by focusing on ecological restoration, natural regeneration, site protection, and long-term stewardship aligned with native biodiversity.
Harit Ekam integrates robust community engagement and scientific restoration protocols to ensure the ecological integrity and durability of outcomes. Participants receive clear documentation of their contribution, while restoration progress is consistently monitored and reported.
The programme is slated for scaling across multiple forest-adjacent landscapes, aiming to enable citizens, CSR programmes, and institutions to collectively and decentralisedly contribute to India’s crucial forest restoration goals. From left to right: Raj K Srivastava, IFS Retd, Managing Trustee, Shivani Sinha, Deputy Managing Trustee, Sameer from Jaybharat Foundation, Sashi Kant (IFS Retd), Former PCCF Assam, Rajiv, Joint Managing Trustee.
