Tree Foundation

The TREE Foundation conducts tailored education programmes in schools and colleges across three states, emphasizing the students' role in safeguarding marine and land environments. As leaders of India's Jane Goodall Institutes ‘Roots & Shoots,’ it spearheads comprehensive education initiatives within coastal communities. Additionally, it created a mobile marine biodiversity exhibit, reaching 112 villages and 41 schools, engaging 56,000 individuals of various backgrounds. Sea Turtle Protection Force members deliver talks, educating communities about marine biodiversity and the significance of preserving sea turtles and the broader marine ecosystem.

The TREE Foundation prioritizes community involvement, emphasizing initiatives that benefit coastal communities, and fostering understanding and support for conservation efforts. It engages locals in income-generating projects tied to conservation, promoting community ownership. The Foundation's success hinges on active community participation and education about marine ecosystems, ensuring a legacy of biodiversity awareness passed down through generations. Incentivizing Sea Turtle Protection Force (STPF) members to train the next generation reinforces this commitment. Moreover, it offers educational support for STPF members' children, sponsors medical camps, empowers women through vocational training, and collaborates with organizations for workshops and search-and-rescue efforts, bolstering community welfare alongside conservation goals.

The Tree Foundation recognized a pressing need for local engagement in safeguarding sea turtles, noticing a significant decline in Olive Ridley nesting since the 1970s. It focuses on protecting nesting sites and supporting the migration of adult Ridley turtles along the Odisha coast. Additionally, it aims to diminish turtle fatalities caused by fishing activities. Its efforts involve the active involvement of marginalized artisanal fishers and building community stewardship along the East Coast. Through inclusive programmes, it has brought about positive changes: communities now embrace nesting turtles, women and girls engage in hatchling safety, and awareness of ecological health and pollution has heightened. Ultimately, its overarching goal is to reduce turtle mortality due to poaching and fishing by implementing comprehensive awareness initiatives and fostering stakeholder participation for policy influence in conservation areas.

The Tree Foundation, with STPF members, rescues stranded marine mammals like whales and dolphins, gathering data for the state Forest Department. It focuses on Cetaceans and Sirenians along the Coromandel Coast, addressing causes such as pollution and fishing entanglements. Since 2005, it has documented stranded mammals and turtles, aiding studies on causes of mortality. Collaborating with fishing communities, it collects data on dead marine life, aiding the understanding of species diversity and causes of death. Its goals involve assessing live stranded mammals for potential rehabilitation and release, emphasizing the importance of accurate data for environmental policy and understanding ocean biodiversity, crucial for conservation. Through these efforts, it has documented various species, enhancing our knowledge of oceanic creatures and their interactions with the environment, proving invaluable for conservation.

The Tree Foundation champions the 'Mangrove Ecosystem Conservation and Restoration (MECR) Programme launched in 2022 in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore, Prakasam, and Bapatla districts. Mangroves, vital for coastal protection during calamities like the 2004 Tsunami, harbour diverse flora and fauna, enriching ecosystems and playing a crucial role akin to rainforests in maintaining global biodiversity and climate regulation. However, these essential ecosystems in developing countries face rapid degradation due to urbanization, industrial growth, deforestation for agriculture and aquaculture, water pollution, and overfishing. Urban expansion, industrial facilities, and population demands have significantly eroded India's mangroves, impacting their health and ecosystem balance. The programme aims to address these threats and restore mangrove habitats crucial for coastal resilience and biodiversity conservation.