Environment conservation

Ramanathapuram forest range officer S Sathish has worked for over five years to mitigate poaching, saving the Olive Ridley Turtle, carrying out underwater plastic waste clean ups, and more to protect the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park in Tamil Nadu.

Sagar Pradhan from Odisha is an author and software engineer, who has been using the royalty money he has earned from his written work to plant thousands of trees and revive ponds

Bijay Kumar Kabi, director at Action for Protection of Wild Animals in Odisha planted a mangrove forest to prevent Badakot village from being eroded by cyclones

Jagdish Kudiyal from Dehradun worked relentlessly by planting thousands of trees to revive a dying spring and recharge the groundwater table

In the 70s, Steve Lall quit the Indian Air Force and returned to his home in Jilling to preserve and guard the 140-acre mountain top, which covers vast orchards, forests, and farmlands, from encroachers. He runs the Jilling Estate with his wife, Parvati.

The Better India’s Heroes of Sustainability have dedicated their lives to protect the planet — planting huge forests, helping hundreds lead sustainable lives, or even saving entire species. And these heroes have no plans to stop until the Earth heals.

P Sivakumar, field director at Kaziranga national park created six wetlands to help wildlife access water and reduce man-animal conflict

These samaritans have set a remarkable benchmark for conservationists, and their work has been silently contributing to a rise in the numbers of the severely endangered turtle.

This unique initiative was led by Sharad Patel, the founder of Badlaav, a non-profit organisation in Lucknow that works towards ending the social evil of begging through rehabilitative and employment opportunities.

Today, if you walk along the Jakkur Lake premises, you will find many known and lesser-known medicinal herbs, aromatic shrubs, as well as rare and red-listed endemic trees lining the area, where community and conservation zones coexist.