Watershed Reforestation Trust

Why this matters in India

Villages on the dry eastern side of the Western Ghats depend on a short monsoon for almost all their water. After decades of tree felling, open grazing on common land and cultivation of steep slopes, rain that falls on upper catchments runs straight off bare ground, carrying topsoil with it and filling ponds and check dams with silt. Wells that once lasted into the dry season fail by early spring, and families farming small rain-fed plots lose a second crop or leave for seasonal work such as sugarcane cutting.

Government watershed schemes fund earthworks, but tree cover on ridges and grazing commons is slow to establish and easily lost if a village has not agreed how it will be protected. Native trees and grasses hold soil, slow runoff and let water soak in, so structures downstream keep working. Without that vegetation, engineering alone can silt up quickly and the land keeps degrading.

What your gift pays for

• Native seedlings, nursery care and planting on ridges and common land above village farmland
• Contour trenches that hold rainwater around young trees and reduce runoff
• Village watchers and agreements that keep grazing animals and wood cutters off new plantations
• Training for village committees and women's groups in nursery management and plantation upkeep