Of Adivasis, Forests and Farms – a Journey through Jharkand
By Anita Varghese In the month of March, a heady fragrance of Mahua flowers, a forest ablaze with flowers of Palash and the sweet taste of Kendhu fruits awaited us at every village we visited in the state of Jharkand between March 19th and 29th. The early days of the journey started with cold rain, […]
Bridging Traditions: 3-Day Storytelling & Music Workshop in Purulia
6-8 March, 2025 By Jyoti Patale, Climate change As spring arrived in Purulia, vibrant Palash flowers set the landscape ablaze, mirroring the creativity of 46 young storytellers from the Sabar community. Over three days at Rajnowagarh, these children explored their ancestral gift—music—through Bridging Traditional Knowledge Gaps through Storytelling, a workshop organized by The Keystone Foundation […]
Meeting on Environmental Conservation in Jharkand
By Rabiullah, Project Coordinator, APF-Sundarpahari Project, Community Wellbeing On 19th February 2025, Keystone Foundation organized an awareness meeting under the Gram Sabha initiative at Bada Palma village and Bada Paktari Panchayat, Sundarpahari Block of Godda District (Jharkhand). The meeting aimed to educate the local community about environmental conservation and sustainable practices. Villagers participated actively in […]
The Great Backyard Bird Count Comes to Ranchi
By Jyoti Patale, Eastern India Team, Consultant The Ranchi bird walk was organized as part of the Great Backyard Bird Count 2025, a global community science event that encourages people to observe and document bird species in their surroundings. Early Bird and Ataavi Bird Foundation led the event, along with partner organization Keystone Foundation. The […]
Piloting SRI in Districts of Jharkhand
By Jagabandhu Sanda, Consultant, Eastern India Team The Eastern India regional meeting cum workshop on Ecological Farming in Bankura in June 2025 involved an intensive theoretical and hands on training on System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methods by Jacob Nellithanam with Community Resource Persons (CRPs) and field staff. After returning from the workshop, Jagabandhu Sanda […]
Bridging Generations: Passing Traditional Knowledge with the Village Elder Program
By Jyoti Patale, Eastern India Team Consultant Cover photo credit: Satyajeet Sabar Knowledge can exist outside formal education, yet traditional knowledge is often overlooked in today’s educational models. To address this, Keystone Foundation runs the Village Elder Program. Through the Forest Education initiative in Eastern India, we have conducted village elder program in 4 villages. The program bridges […]
Kitchen Gardens & Community Forest Protection in Kheria Sabar
By Dhananjay Mandi, Eastern India Team Community Forest Protection in Chequa Sabar Para CRP Rampada Sabar has been working with the villagers of Chequa Sabar Para to promote protection and conservation of their forest resources. Chequa Sabar Para, home to 32 Kheria Sabar families is located in Buribandh Panchayat, Manbazar II Block, Purulia District, West […]
September Area Level Stakeholder Meetings, East Singhbhum
Header photo credit: Kapra Mahali Area Level Stakeholder Meeting in Tambajhuri By Baby Patar and Jagabandhu Sanda A stakeholder meeting was held on 24th August 2024 at the Panchayat building, Forest Block, Tambajuri in Musabani Block, East Singhbhum, Jharkhand. The meeting was organized by Baby Patar (Community resource person) and Jagabandhu Sanda (Consultant Eastern India […]
Strengthening Community Engagement: Saraikela Area-Level Meeting
By Jyoti Patale, Eastern India Team Consultant, Networks and Alliances An area-level meeting was held on 27th August, 2024 at Hatnada, Saraikela, facilitated by Budheshwar Mahato, a Community Resource Person, Keystone Foundation. This meeting brought together participants from 10 villages (Hatnada,Saradabeda,Kalajhor, Udaipur,Jungali Khas, Palobeda, Rearda, Barshida, Kashida, Lapaibeda) including post office officials, forest guards, village […]
Forest Education Session by Satyajeet in Purulia, West Bengal
By Jyoti Patale, Eastern India Team Consultant Satyajeet Sabar, a community resource person with Keystone Foundation from Purulia, West Bengal, led a series of interactive forest education sessions with children from community learning centres (CLCs) and girls from the Paschim Banga Kheria Sabar Kalyan Samity (PBKSKS) hostel. After undergoing specific training and orientation in forest education, Satyajeet designed […]
