The Nilgiris Earth Festival 2025: Four Days of Food, Culture and Ecology
December 18–21, 2025 | Ooty, Coonoor, Kotagiri The Nilgiris Earth Festival (TNEF) returns for its fourth edition this December, bringing together ecologists, indigenous communities, farmers, and food practitioners to examine how cultural traditions, food, and biodiversity intersect in one of India’s most fragile mountain ecosystems. Held across Ooty, Coonoor, and Kotagiri from December 18–21, 2025, […]
World Mental Health Day Discussions: a Universal Human Right
October 10, 2023 By Anagha C.Technical Coordinator – Healthcare (Community Wellbeing) This year, World Mental Health Day that fell on October 10, chose the theme “Mental Health is a Universal Human Right”. The annual day in resounds calls to intensify endeavours towards improving mental health, reiterating an approach that is mindful of human rights. Mental […]
Photo Story: Swallows Visit Aracode
March 17, 2023 By Emelie Svensson & Anna Norrby Andersson, Swallows Fellows, Climate Change This week, the new batch of Swallows Fellows went into the field, visiting Aracode. During the day, we had the opportunity to visit everything from a production center to a school. We had our cameras with us every step of the […]
Climate Educators Workshop with SeasonWatch (Also in Tamil)
February 2, 2023 by Gretta T., Climate Educator & Community Resource Person, Climate Change programme மிகவும் எதிர்பார்ப்ப்போடு காத்திருந்த பயிலரங்கம் நடத்தப்படும் நாள் வந்தது. Bhavya அவர்கள் ஏற்கனவே இப்பயிலரங்கம் பற்றி கூறியிருந்தார். எவ்விதமான activities இருக்குமோ resource person எங்குஇருந்து வருவார்கள் என்ற எதிர்பார்ப்போடு 9:15 மணிக்கே Keystone வந்துவிட்டேன் . அங்கு ஏற்கனவே வயநாடு, நிலம்பூர், கர்நாடக போன்ற இடங்களிலிருந்து climate educators வந்திருந்தனர். அவர்களோடு சிறிது நேரம் […]
The Nilgiris Wild Food Festival 2022
December 23, 2022 By The Nilgiris Foundation team From December 19 to 23, The Nilgiris Foundation, our sister concern based in California, U.S.A., organised the very first Nilgiris Wild Food Festival, kicking off what is going to be an annual four-day celebration of indigenous crops and cuisines for years to come. Food ties together several […]
Training the Trainers: Promoting Traditional Beekeeping in the Nilgiris
December 19, 2022 By Justin Raj & Nitya M (Biodiversity Conservation team) In June 2022, Keystone’s Biodiversity team organized a five-day beginner’s training programme for 35 people on traditional beekeeping methods in several of our working areas: Sigur, Aracode, Pillur, Arepalayam, Kotagiri and Wayanad. From the first four areas, participants were Irula and Soliga tribal […]
Community Forest Rights Granted in Pillur, in a First for Tamil Nadu
December 10, 2022 By Community Well-being team In a groundbreaking motion and a first for Tamil Nadu, 13 villages in Pillur region were granted Community Forest Rights (CFR) in late November. This achievement is following decades of dedicated activism and grassroots work by Keystone’s Community Wellbeing team, local Forest Rights Committees (FRC) and local government […]
Founder Pratim Roy Constituted into Tamil Nadu State Wildlife Board
November 16, 2022 By Pratim Roy – Founder & Director On November 16, the Tamil Nadu State Board for Wildlife met for the first time since 2018, along with its newly constituted members, including myself. The Board is now chaired by our Honourable Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and has a total of 35 members, two […]
Rethinking Education with Tribal Communities in the Nilgiris
November 9, 2022 By Madeleine Gefke & Nithya V.Oberlin Shansi Fellow & Field Assistant – Biodiversity Conservation While Keystone has been working on education for all ages across the Nilgiris for years, it is important to revisit our vision and strategy, and involve community members in this exercise. In September, we began taking surveys in […]
Addressing Mental Health in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
November 3, 2022 By Anagha C. Much of our work is largely done to achieve three things: to help the rural residents of the Nilgiris to identify when they need mental health aid, to encourage them to come forward, and to ensure that help is available when they do. With K.M.F. Hospital chosen as our […]