KALPAVRIKSH

About Kalpavriksh
Kalpavriksh (KV) is a voluntary group working on environmental education, research, campaigns, and direct action. It began in 1979, with a students' campaign to save Delhi's Ridge Forest area from encroachments and destruction. Starting with these roots in local action, Kalpavriksh has moved on to work on a number of local, national, and global issues. KV is registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1980. It is Delhi based, and has a unit in Pune as well.

Philosophy
KV believes that a country can develop meaningfully only if ecological sustainability and social equity are guaranteed, and a sense of respect for and oneness with nature and fellow humans are revived

Main Activities

Education and awareness:

• Talks and slide-shows in schools and colleges
• Nature walks and outstation camps
• Consumer awareness regarding organic food
• Press campaigns and handling green alerts
• Long-term environmental educational activities in the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands
• Public awareness about biodiversity issues, including the International Convention on Biological Diversity
• Publication of Protected Area Update, focusing on conservation and livelihood issues
• ‘Signs of Hope’ lecture series on Environment and Development in Pune and Delhi

Investigation and research:

• Bird counts and bird watching in Delhi and Corbett National Park, Uttar Pradesh
• Management issues of Sultanpur National Park, Haryana
• Destructive commercial activities (e.g. mining) in protected areas
• Conflicts between local communities and wildlife conservation and their resolution
• Sustainable, organic agriculture, including the revival of agro-biodiversity
• Environmental and social impacts of the Narmada River Valley Project
• Forest logging and status of tribals in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
• Participatory research on community in South Asia
• Biodiversity assessment associated with watershed development, Amba Valley, Raigad district, Maharashtra
• Non-timber forest produce and local community use, Adilabad district, Andhra Pradesh
• Impacts of intellectual property rights regimes on biodiversity and local communities

Direct action, campaigns, and lobbying:

• Save the Delhi Ridge, KV is now a member of the Joint NGO Forum to save the ridge forest
• Protect wildlife habitats from destructive commercial developments such as mining, and denotifications of protected areas
• Protest against the Narmada Valley dams, as a part of the Narmada Bachao Andolan
• Campaign against indiscriminate tiling of Delhi's pavements
• Anti-plastics and alternative bags campaign in Pune
• Campaign to save Pune University's greens and against herbicide spraying of the Mula river

Networking:

• With communities, local NGOs, social activists, conservationists and forest officials to initiate dialogues and resolve conflicts within protected areas
• Coordinator of a national Conservation and Livelihoods Network
• Active support to many and self rule struggles
• International NGO networking related to the Biodiversity Convention and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests
• Representation in international networks and groups such as the Global Biodiversity Forum, Earth Action, the World Rainforest Movement, and the Using Diversity Fund for South Asia
• Participation in movements against WTO, TRIPs, and the processes of destructive globalisation
• Coordination of India’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP)

Past Achievements
Legal action: KV has helped villagers of Nahin-Badkot (Dehradun) fight and win a case against limestone quarrying in that area. It also litigated against the takeover of the Aravalis for luxury farmhouse development, and joined the legal action against the Sriram Chemicals plant in Delhi. It has currently filed a public interest litigation relating to the extermination of the Onge tribe and the deforestation of the Little Andaman Island.

KALPAVRIKSH CONTACT ADDRESSES

Delhi-based activities: B25 Defence Colony,
New Delhi 110 024 (mailing address only)
Tel. (c/o Pradeep Malhotra): 011-24624197.
Email (c/o Krishnendu Bose): bose2@vsnl.com
Pune-based activities:
Apt # 5, Shree Dutta Krupa,
908 Deccan Gymkhana,
Pune 411 004.
Tel. and fax: 020-5654239.
Email: kvriksh@vsnl.com