Habitats Trust offers financial aid to preserve 'India's natural wealth'

The Habitats Trust, co-founded by HCL Corporation CEO Roshni Nadar Malhotra, has announced grants totalling Rs 60 lakh to organisations working on environment conservation. The grant programme is aimed at creating long-term strategic partnerships that can help secure India's natural wealth for future generations, Malhotra said. The programme received over 700 registrations and the recipients were selected through a rigorous three-stage process that took into account the impact of the project, the applicants' capacity to deliver and the sustainability of their proposed work, she added.

The Strategic Partnership Grant of Rs 25 lakh was awarded to Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) which is working towards protecting endangered and threatened species in three selected landscapes in Nagaland, including Satoi, Zanubu and Mt Pauna landscape. The Lesser-Known Habitats Grant of Rs 15 lakh was awarded to ReefWatch Marine Conservation which is working towards monitoring, rehabilitating and restoring coral reefs in Chidiyatapu in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Lesser-Known Species Grant of Rs 10 lakh was awarded to Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra, working for the conservation of Indian Pangolin through community participation in Chiplun, Ratnagiri district in Konkan region of Western Ghats, Maharashtra. Another Rs 10 lakh will be awarded to other six finalists in the three categories.

"I also hope that this annual platform will be able to create a united community of conservationists who are connected to each other in a competitive yet collaborative spirit," Malhotra said.