Driving -river & forest – conservation through data and dialogue, from Malnad to the Maidan
Mapping Malnad is a voluntary citizen platform that combines research, community dialogue, and legal advocacy to protect the rivers, forests, and mountains of the Western Ghats
Here, “mapping” is synonymous with research (including spatial)—that informs and strengthens advocacy and campaigns for rivers and forests. Malnad (from Kannada: male = hill, nādu = land) literally means “land of the hills,” and refers to the tropical rainforests of the Western Ghats in Karnataka—a biodiversity hotspot and water tower that not only gives rise to, but also sustains, the major flows of South India’s rivers, including the Cauvery, Kabini, Hemavathi, Sharavathi, Kali, and others.
Our research connects the dots by drawing on extensive discussions with local citizens, field visits, proactively disclosed government data, Right to Information (RTI) requests, and a wide range of published studies. This research forms the basis of legal campaigns that invoke a wide spectrum of environmental and governance laws, including the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; Biological Diversity Act, 2002; Factories Act, 1948; Right to Information Act, 2005; National Green Tribunal Act, 2010; Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006; Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2011; and relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS).
An activist-researcher who has been working on water, river and pollution issues for over a decade in Bengaluru. She previously co-founded and curated Paani.Earth. Her work spans legal advocacy, grassroots collaborations, and independent research on rivers, forests, and mountains—from the Malnad to the Maidan. Her recent writings include articles in Deccan Herald on the Arkavathi River and the Sharavathi Pumped Storage Project.
She has been critically examining energy projects promoted as climate solutions, including pumped storage projects in the fragile Western Ghats and sugarcane-based ethanol (flex-fuel) expansion in the water stressed Cauvery basin. She has also worked extensively on the pollution of Bellandur and Byramangala lakes, as well as on industrial pollution affecting the Vrishabhavathi and Arkavathi rivers—particularly from hazardous waste landfills, tyre factories, and other industries in Bengaluru and Ramanagara.
Her work also extends internationally, where she is engaged in a project with IHE Delft, Netherlands, on the Athi River in Kenya.
With a degree in computer science engineering, she worked with IT and pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. before transitioning to environmental work. She holds an M.Sc. in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco
With a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, he worked for a brief period with ONGC in Bombay. He taught Chemical Engineering for 14 years at NITK, Surathkal. He also spent several years at Sampoorna Kranti Vidyalaya (SKV) in Vedchhi, Gujarat, and continues to remain actively involved with the institution as a trustee.
In 2007, he co-founded Sangatya along with six friends—an initiative rooted in sustainable living and equity, offering workshops and experiential learning programs focused on sustainability and social justice.
With an M.Sc. in Physics from Mangalore University, she is the Founder-President of Kadike Trust, an organization dedicated to nurturing sustainable rural livelihoods and documenting indigenous knowledge. She spent several years as a lecturer and Head of the Department of Computer Science at St. Philomena College, Puttur.
In 2018, the Kadike Trust launched the Udupi Saree Revival project to revive the region’s GI- tagged traditional weaving, practiced in the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka. Under her leadership and guidance, this dying craft was brought back from the brink of extinction.
She received the Deccan Herald Changemakers Award in 2021. Now working full-time with the Trust, she manages its day-to-day affairs while also actively engaging in the protection of the Western Ghats as part of the collective Parisara Sangama.
With a master’s degree in Zoology from the University of Pune and a bachelor’s in Education, her work over the past 40 years has spanned teaching, curriculum design, rural watershed projects, and conservation interventions. She has played a key role in efforts to secure legal protection for the ecologically sensitive areas of Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in Belagavi district, Karnataka, and the larger contiguous forest stretch spanning East Goa, South Maharashtra, and Northwest Karnataka.
She has authored and co-authored books on education and land tending practices, and is currently developing a locale-specific agroecology prototype, titled Living with Forests, in Uchawade village, Belagavi.
A post-graduate researcher at the University of Exeter, UK, he is studying the social and environmental dimensions of ginger cultivation in the Western Ghats. His work lies at the intersections of environment, ecology, society—and everything in between. He also contributes his time to meaningful causes, guided by a deep sense of dharma.
A lawyer and environmental activist, he works for the conservation of the Western Ghats through the Green Lives Shimoga Trust. His efforts include increasing tree cover in Shivamogga city, reclaiming encroached water bodies, and scientifically, technically, and legally challenging ecologically harmful linear infrastructure projects—such as roads—that threaten the integrity of the Ghats and their wildlife sanctuaries.
Dr. Ravindranath Shanbhag is a renowned human rights activist and the founder-president of the Human Rights Protection Foundation (HRPF), Udupi. He has resolved thousands of grievances for marginalized communities and is widely respected for his grassroots legal advocacy.
Dr. Shanbhag has played a pivotal role in major environmental campaigns, including efforts to curb industrial pollution of rivers like the Tungabhadra, Chaliyar, and Hemavathi, as well as the protection of mangroves and the Western Ghats. He was instrumental in the ban on endosulfan and continues the legal fight against the illegal and indiscriminate disposal of endosulfan even today.
His long-standing activism also includes advocacy challenging Cogentrix Thermal Power Plant, Usha Ispat Steel Plant, MRPL, and industrial pollution in the Bidar industrial area.
Dr. A.N. Yellappa Reddy is a renowned Indian environmentalist, former Indian Forest Service officer, and former Secretary of the Department of Ecology, Environment and Forests, Government of Karnataka. He resigned from his post in protest against political pressure to grant environmental clearance to the controversial Cogentrix thermal power plant.
He has served as a member of the Lok Adalat of the Karnataka High Court, where he contributed his environmental expertise to resolving issues related to pollution and the protection of forests and the Western Ghats. Dr. Reddy played a pivotal role in shaping key environmental legislation, including the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act (1976) and the Forest (Conservation) Act (1980).
He is also known for pioneering eco-restoration techniques, establishing sacred groves and herbal gardens, and leading efforts for the revival of lakes and rivers across Karnataka.
A prolific author, he has written numerous technical papers and books, chaired national conferences, and continues to mentor and inspire young environmentalists through his lifelong dedication to ecological conservation.
A veteran environmental and social activist from Belgaum, Karnataka, he has worked with Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS) in Dharwad on campaigns addressing Tungabhadra River pollution, common land reclamation, and Joint Forest Planning and Management (JFPM). SPS was awarded the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar by the Government of India.
He has mobilized Bhil tribals in Maharashtra, supported Sansi women’s protests, and helped form unions in the textile and aluminium sectors. He served as the State Convener of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) in Karnataka and wrote a regular column for Tarun Bharat for seven years. His commitment to social justice has taken him to international platforms, including invitations from South Dakota State University (USA) and the French Government, where he shared perspectives on the Gandhian approach to struggleand the impacts of globalization. Here is his reflections on empowerment of poor.
He is currently active with Parivartan, leading a campaign against female foeticide in Belgaum and supporting 950 tenant farmers in Kullwalli (near Kittur) in securing land rights over 12,000 acres of historic Inam land. He has long been associated with the Save the Western Ghats movement and remains engaged in the conservation of the Bhimgad Forest and Malaprabha River.
An environmental researcher, writer, and advocate focused on climate, energy, and ecological justice. He is a graduate of IIT Bombay and he has served as an environmental engineering consultant to the UN Environment Programme, He served as the director of Envirotech Consultants in New Delhi. He was a regular contributor to Ecologise and actively involved with the South Asian People’s Action on Climate Crisis (SAPACC), promoting equitable climate action grounded in justice and ecological limits.
He describes himself as a member of “the most ferocious predator species that ever stalked the Earth—Homo sapiens,” candidly acknowledging his privilege as a male, upper-caste and upper-class, college-educated, urban dweller.
Sagar advises people’s movements on the environmental impacts of industry and has contributed to several major struggles—from Cogentrix thermal power project in Udupi to supporting restoration efforts in the mining-affected regions of Bellary.
He has been associated with the Save the Western Ghats movement for more than Four decades and continues his engagement through current work on landslides in Wayanad and the protection of Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in Belagavi’s western ghats.
