Good News This Week: How Villages Across India Are Protecting Land, Rivers & Wildlife

Across India, villagers are taking a closer look at the land and rivers around them and deciding to do something about it. From cleaning a tired river to growing new forests and protecting wildlife, here’s how it all unfolded.

By TBI Team

How a 25-YO Woman’s Solo Treks Brought Sustainable Tourism to Kashmir’s Forgotten Villages

At dawn in Bandipora’s high meadows, Shabnam Bashir walks through wet grass with a phone camera in one hand and a notebook in her bag. She pauses, marks a turn, and keeps going, even when people question why a young woman is trekking alone. Over time, those solo walks those solo treks grew into a plan that keeps tourism rooted in the village.

She has mapped 16 hidden valleys and helped create 40 homestays, opening seasonal income options for over 60 people from the Gujjar–Bakarwal community.

Read the full story here.

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Villages in Punjab Are Turning Barren Land Into Mini Forests With Over 3 Million Trees

In a village in Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib, 79-year-old Inderjit Singh says the air feels different now, cleaner, fuller, alive with birdsong. Not long ago, the land near him was dry and forgotten.

Then the Billion Tree Project began planting native saplings and, crucially, stayed back to care for them for up to 30 months. Since March 2019, the effort has grown across 1,600+ villages, planting 3 million trees and creating steady local jobs.

Read the full story here.

How a Mountaineer Worked With Villagers in Purulia to Protect 18 Striped Hyenas

striped hyena

In Purulia’s forest villages, a missing goat can quickly turn into blame, and striped hyenas often take the hit. One winter night, mountaineer Joydeep Chakraborty heard a strange call near Pakhi Pahar and could not shake it.

He kept coming back, walking the hills with local guides, then sitting down with families to understand their fears and losses. Slowly, the conversations began to change, and a community effort helped protect 18 hyenas.

Read the full story here.

How 111 UP Villages Came Together to Clean & Desilt 89 Km of the Tamsa River

village changemaker

In Azamgarh, the Tamsa has always been the kind of river you grow up around, close enough to become part of daily life. Over the years, people watched it turn shallow, its banks cluttered with waste, and the river’s space slowly shrink.

In February 2026, villages along the stretch decided to step in together. With 111 gram panchayats involved, the work moved from talk to action: desilting, clearing riverbanks, removing encroachments, and planting fruit-bearing trees along the edges.

Read the full story here.