Environmentalist Foundation of India

Description

Environmentalist Foundation of India, known as E.F.I, is an environmental conservation group based in Chennai, India, working on wildlife conservation and habitat restoration.

It was founded by Arun Krishnamurthy in 2007 and registered in 2011 as a not-for-profit trust. It focuses on the scientific restoration of lakes and ponds, most of which are damaged by pollution and human activity. Its work has grown from a single pond in Chennai to cover more than 167 water bodies across 18 Indian states.

E.F.I relies mainly on volunteers, who carry out weekend lake clean-ups, tree planting and beach clean-up drives. It also runs education programmes such as school orientations, herbal biodiversity gardens and awareness documentaries under its Environmental Film Association. It has partnered with local governments and municipal corporations on several restoration projects.

The organisation has restored dozens of lakes each year, including projects in Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Srinagar’s Dal Lake. It has received recognition including the Rolex Awards for Enterprise and the Jane Goodall Institute Global Youth Leadership Award.