Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)

The Forests and Governance Programme aims to improve forest governance in South Asia by studying the combination of governance regimes, economic policies, cultural changes, and biophysical measures that can lead to sustainable, equitable, and livelihood-enhancing outcomes. The programme focuses on rights, institutions, and governance mechanisms, as well as the ecological and sustainable use of natural resources, and the economic and cultural dependence on forests. The programme engages in various projects, including investigating sustainable livestock grazing practices in Community Forest Resource areas, promoting locally-managed conservation in India's Western Ghats, exploring alternative uses of Lantana and non-timber forest products, co-managing non-timber forest products in protected areas of the Western Ghats, conducting action research on community forest resource management in Central India, and contributing to the Nature4SDGs initiative.

The Water, Land and Society (WLS) programme takes a multidisciplinary approach to address issues of inequity, unsustainability, pollution, and vulnerability in water resources. The programme aims to generate knowledge that can explain the causes of these problems and provide insights for social, technological, and governance solutions in India. The programme encompasses various projects such as online monitoring of recycled water quality, restoration of Hennagara Lake, rural evidence and learning for water, strengthening local capacities for adaptation, pathways towards sustainable development in the Cauvery Delta, sustainable use of natural resources for health and economic development, strategic in-stream systems for wastewater contamination, decentralized wastewater treatment for rural communities, upscaling catchment processes for water management, groundwater and sanitation in peri-urban small towns, and a citizen's dashboard for Bengaluru's lakes.

The Climate Change Mitigation and Development (CCMD) programme is a newly introduced initiative that focuses on renewable energy, waste management, and sustainable consumption. The programme is currently engaged in projects in Bengaluru and Ramanagara town, exploring the social, institutional, and behavioural factors that influence sustainable and low-carbon development. The projects include community-based wet-waste composting, examining the conflict between renewable energy and biodiversity protection, analyzing the policy drivers for renewable energy expansion in India, studying the drivers of consumption decisions, and implementing rooftop solar energy generation in Ramanagara Town, Karnataka. Through these projects, the CCMD programme aims to understand and address the challenges of climate change mitigation while promoting sustainable and equitable development pathways.

The Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Planning program conducts applied research and outreach activities to generate knowledge on biodiversity and ecosystem changes. Through integrated taxonomy and monitoring, the programme aims to improve biodiversity and ecosystem management, influencing policies and conservation planning. Led by Dr R Ganesan, the programme is involved in various projects such as the National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Well-Being, molecular phylogeny of land snails in the Western Ghats, co-management of non-timber forest products in protected areas, genetic diversity studies of endemic plants and fish, taxonomic revisions of the Piper genus, sustainable livelihood in Northeast India, and population status and conservation of certain species. These projects contribute to a better understanding of biodiversity and support sustainable conservation practices.

The Ecosystem Services and Human Wellbeing Programme aims to investigate the role of ecosystem services in local land use planning, understand the socio-ecological and economic importance of these services, and advocate for their preservation. The programme is engaged in various projects, including promoting interdisciplinary scholarship for conservation in the Himalayas, studying the linkages between ecosystem services and livelihoods, assessing the impacts of altered rivers on ecosystems and communities, examining environmental injustice in coastal and hill-town regions of Tamil Nadu, and exploring the relationship between biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human wellbeing in the Darjeeling tea-forest landscape. Through these projects, the programme seeks to enhance understanding, promote equity, and garner support for the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem services.

The Landscape, Livelihood, and Conservation (LLC) programme focuses on studying ecosystem processes in diverse landscapes and understanding the natural and social drivers that impact these processes. The programme is involved in various projects. These include the Participatory Appraisal of Regional Distribution of Exotic Species in India (PARDESI), which examines the ecological and cultural impacts of biological invasions in a biodiversity hotspot. Another project aims to optimize forest benefits while minimizing the impacts of emerging zoonotic diseases in India. The programme also investigates the linkages between ecosystem services and livelihoods, resilience in the Banni grasslands, the coexistence of meso-carnivores in human-dominated landscapes, and population changes in migrating grassland raptors.

The organisation has established Community-based Conservation Centres (CCCs) that serve as spaces for collaboration and research. These CCCs support activities such as long-term ecological monitoring, research projects by students and interns, collaboration with communities on conservation and sustainable livelihoods, engagement with local governance institutions, conservation education programs, and the facilitation of activities by other research organisations. ATREE operates five CCCs in different locations, including the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve in Karnataka, Agasthyamalai in Tamil Nadu, Vembanad Community Environmental Resource Centre in Kerala, Male Mahadeshwara Hills in Karnataka, and Kanakapura in Karnataka.