Little Earth Defenders – Every Life Matters: A 2-day Summer Camp
Monisha Ravi, Community Wellbeing Welcoming Young Earth Defenders Keystone Foundation successfully conducted its annual summer camp, “Little Earth Defenders – Every Life Matters,” at the Keystone campus, bringing together 23 enthusiastic students from diverse backgrounds for two days of immersive learning and exploration. The camp was jointly facilitated by the Biodiversity Conservation with Community Wellbeing, […]
Participation in the Third International Forum
Shiny Mariam Rehel, Biodiversity Conservation World Bee Day is celebrated annually on 20 May and was officially proclaimed by the United Nations following a proposal by Slovenia and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The date marks the birth anniversary of Anton Janša, an 18th-century Slovenian pioneer of modern beekeeping. To commemorate World Bee Day […]
Seed to Plant: Community Nursery in Begur, Wayanad
Vishnu N M, Biodiversity Conservation The nursery is the backbone of our restoration work in Wayanad. To restore the forest to its original state, we need native plants. Currently, the major challenge we face is the invasion of non-native species, mainly Senna spectabilis, followed by Lantana camara and Chromolaena odorata. To address this issue, we […]
Guardians of the Forest: Community Efforts in Preventing Wildfires in Wayanad
Saneesh PB, Community Wellbeing and Vishnu N M, Biodiversity Conservation Forest fires are a major challenge in Kerala’s forest regions during the summer season. Hot and dry weather between February and May primarily drives natural forest fires in the state. While natural causes such as lightning or friction between trees can trigger fires, such cases […]
Bee-Keeping Training in Hatnada, Seraikela-Kharsawan District, Jharkhand
Rohan Mukerjee, Biodiversity Conservation As part of Keystone Foundation’s Eastern India initiative, the team organised a hands-on practical beekeeping training in the Kolhan region. In 2025, teams comprising Keystone staff from the Nilgiris and local members and resource persons conducted exploratory visits to identify the potential for beekeeping in the Kolhan region, as well as […]
Forest Education sessions in Saranda, West Singhbhum, Jharkhand
Jyoti patale, Biodiversity Conservation Sunita Hembrom, a Community Resource Person for the forest education program, is conducting Nature-Culture-Based activities with children living in villages around the Saranda Forest, well-known Sal (Shorea robusta) forest in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. For the last two years, forest education sessions have been carried out in eight schools located […]
Inauguration of Honey Processing Unit at Begur, Tholpetty Range
Ayoob A,Community Wellbeing & Justinraj, Biodiversity Conservation The Honey Processing Unit at Begur in the Tholpetty Range of the Wayanad Wildlife.The sanctuary was formally inaugurated by Smt. T. Uma, IFS, Chief Conservator of forests (Wildlife) and Field Director, Palakkad on the 13th of March, 2026. The inauguration ceremony was marked by Smt. Uma cutting a […]
Exploring the Valparai Landscape: Ecology, Communities, and Change
Renju K R, Biodiversity Conservation The Valparai landscape is a mosaic of rainforest fragments, tea estates, grasslands, and wildlife corridors. It is a landscape where elephants move between patches, birds call from shaded canopies, and human settlements exist closely alongside forests. At the same time, it also carries the marks of disturbance — invasive species, […]
One Day Workshop on Mapping Invasive Plants using iNaturalist
Ramajayam, Biodiversity Conservation The focus of this workshop was on identifying invasive alien plant species and mapping them using the iNaturalist mobile application. A full-day training workshop for barefoot ecologists was held on January 21, 2026, at the Keystone campus. This session emphasized early detection, citizen science, and community participation in managing invasive species and […]
Bioacoustics Workshop in Begur, Wayanad
Vandana Kannan, Biodiversity Conservation Barefoot ecologists in Keystone’s restoration sites (Begur (Wayanad), Bikkapathy Mund, Uginiyam (Kadambur)) have been conducting ecological monitoring for over a year. To cover more sites and seasons and compare wildlife presence across areas with invasive densities, we chose bioacoustics for monitoring. In Begur, Wayanad, we conducted a workshop on bioacoustics theory […]