Nature Conservation Foundation

Description

The Nature Conservation Foundation is an Indian wildlife research and conservation organization based in Mysore.

It was established in 1996 as a public charitable trust. Its goal is to contribute to the knowledge and conservation of India’s wildlife heritage through research and practical solutions. It works in habitats ranging from coral reefs and tropical rainforests to the high Himalaya.

Its research covers endangered species such as snow leopards and elephants, and lesser-known wildlife such as corals and spiders, alongside the study of human resource use and its impact on ecosystems. Using this knowledge, it designs locally appropriate conservation strategies. These are carried out with local communities who depend most on natural resources, and with the governments that manage them, aiming to protect both wildlife and local livelihoods.

Projects include a high-altitude program on human-wildlife conflict and conservation of species like the snow leopard and Tibetan gazelle, run in partnership with the International Snow Leopard Trust and the Government of India. It also runs a rainforest restoration program in the Anamalai hills of the Western Ghats, working with private tea and coffee plantations to restore degraded forest fragments.