Vanashakti

Description

Vanashakti is a non-profit environmental NGO based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

It was founded in 2007 by a group of citizens concerned about environmental degradation and the manipulation of the Forest Rights Bill. It works to protect forests, mangroves, wetlands, wildlife corridors and coastal belts, and to demonstrate the link between ecosystems and human welfare. It combines communication, community building and on-the-ground projects to pursue this mission.

Its main methods are legal advocacy and public interest litigation, alongside environmental education and scientific investigation into local degradation. It has filed numerous cases before the Bombay High Court, the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court over mangrove destruction, wetland protection, opencast mining, river pollution and coastal reclamation projects such as the Mumbai coastal road. Cases it has brought include the protection of the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary, the Aarey Milk Colony and eco-sensitive zones around the Tungareshwar and Sanjay Gandhi National Park sanctuaries.

Vanashakti also works with forest-dwelling and coastal communities to support sustainable livelihoods, such as beekeeping and paper-bag production. It runs environmental education programs for urban and rural schools, and organizes cleanups, tree plantations and awareness campaigns on mangroves, rivers and coastal ecology.