OVC 2025 Report Release & Climate Change and Just Transition Collective Meeting
Climate resilience cannot be built in conference rooms alone; it has to be understood, owned, and shaped by the people already living through the crisis. Under the aegis of the Odisha Development Initiative, a multi-stakeholder coalition is coming together to strengthen the vision of Resilient Odisha 2036.
On 15th May 2026, alongside 50+ collaborative partners, three important milestones were set:
• OVC 2025 Report, themed “Pathways to Climate-Resilient and People-Centric Development” lunched
• Odisha Data Portal- Population and Development data disaggregated at district level lunched
• Laying the foundation for the Climate Change and Just Transition coalition
The conversations made clear: Climate change is no longer only about the environment. It is affecting livelihoods, migration, health, education, local economies, and everyday life across Odisha.
The collective’s focus ahead is to connect policy with ground realities, by:
Building a shared climate and vulnerability data pool linking community insights with government databases. Reviewing policies through a vulnerability and equity lens, focusing on impacts on marginalized communities. Strengthen understanding of climate change impacts on ecosystems, livelihoods, and resilience.
Building partner capacities through peer learning, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. Because resilience will not emerge from isolated interventions it will be built through shared knowledge, collective responsibility, and grounded action.
To join the coalition and support this collective initiative, you can register here: https://forms.gle/XSk1nUtXoj6iFGQ88
The pre-monsoon season is a crucial period for planning and preparing the groundwork that supports long-term landscape regeneration. Building on the conversations from our first webinar, this discussion series brings together practitioners, community members, and experts from regions across the country to share experiences and approaches to revegetation.
Revegetation is a long-term process that depends on ecological understanding, local knowledge, timely action, and sustained care. Through this series, we will explore the different stages of restoration work carried out before and during the monsoon season, from site preparation and seed collection to planting, maintenance, and survival.
The series creates a space for dialogue and cross-learning, where field experiences and scientific insights come together to strengthen restoration efforts across landscapes.
Open to all. Join the conversation.
Every Friday, starting 22nd May 2026, we would meet from 4:30pm to 5:30pm IST for the preceding month.
Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6vJhj35wSRSlsbdhXfMKQQ#/registration
#Conservation #GenerationRestoration #PromiseOfCommons #Restoration #CommunityAction #ClimateChange #Revegetation #Ecosystem #Biodiversity
The #NapoJalBachaoKal Campaign 2026 begins today.
From May 15 to June 15, citizens, communities, students, and institutions across India will come together to measure groundwater levels in wells under this citizen science initiative. By measuring water levels in wells over time, we build a deeper, collective understanding of our groundwater systems.
Participating is simple.
Whether you’re a first-time user or working alongside your community, these easy guides help you collect well-water data with ease. These guides are available in 7 languages: Marathi, Gujarati, Odia, Kannada, Telugu, English and Hindi.
Click on the link, pick your language, and join the movement for a water-secure India. /mph72t7m
India Observatory
#NapoJalBachaoKal #GroundwaterMonitoring #WaterCommons #LocalAction #PromiseOfCommons
The Napo Jal Bachao Kal Campaign is a nationwide effort to build a decentralised, community-driven groundwater monitoring system by encouraging the monitoring of at least one well in every village across India.
As part of this initiative, two webinars are being organised on 19 May 2026 to build a common understanding of groundwater monitoring processes, data collection standards, and the use of the Groundwater Monitoring Tool (GWMT).
These webinars are designed to enable organisations, institutions, volunteers, practitioners, and community members to actively participate in the nationwide Pre-Monsoon Well Monitoring Campaign through a shared understanding of groundwater monitoring processes and tools.
Session 1 : 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM IST, An open webinar for all on groundwater monitoring processes, data collection standards, and the use of the Groundwater Monitoring Tool (GWMT). Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89372490221
Session 2 : 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM IST, A regional language webinar in Marathi to enable wider participation, local engagement, and discussions grounded in regional contexts and experiences. Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/25xhvj4tR9Sn3sZhPXPW9g#/registration
By strengthening local groundwater evidence, the campaign seeks to enable better planning, informed decision-making, and collective action towards sustainable groundwater governance.
After all, “What gets measured, gets managed.”
India Observatory
#NapoJalBachaoKal #Groundwater #GWMT #WaterConservation #ClimateAction #WaterGovernance #PromiseofCommons
What does it take to steward the commons?
In our latest two-part conversation, Jagdeesh Puppala speaks with Irina Snissar Lobo about a lifetime of learning – from his early years in rural India, his enduring connection to nature, and the difficult lessons he has learned in working to safeguard both ecosystems and the people who depend on them.
For more than three decades, Jagdeesh Rao has devoted his life to addressing one of the most complex challenges of our time: the stewardship of the commons, our shared resources and the collective responsibility they demand.
Jagdeesh is a co-founder of Foundation For Ecological Security (@fesforcommons ) and served as its chief executive for nearly 20 years. He is currently the CEO of Living Landscapes and Convener of the Common Ground Initiative.
Listen now! 🎧 link in our bio.
Grassroots Nation is co-produced by @vaakamedia .
#TheCommons #CollectiveAction #Stewardship #Nature #Podcast
This May 16th, FES joins the global movement of Walking Rivers, a collective journey to reconnect with our rivers, landscapes and communities.
Across 4 states, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat, communities will walk along 4 river routes, engaging in conversations around river ecology, conservation, and the deep relationship between people and water.
For generations, rivers have shaped rural life by sustaining livelihoods, supporting agriculture, strengthening local economies and nurturing cultural traditions and community identities. These walks are an opportunity to listen, learn and reflect on the significance of rivers as living ecosystems that connect both people and nature.
Through Walking Rivers, we hope to celebrate collective stewardship and encourage greater awareness and action towards protecting our rivers for the future.
@walking_rivers
#WalkingRivers #RiversAndCommunities #RiverEcology #CollectiveAction #FES #Commons #WaterConservation #CommunityStewardship #RuralIndia #LivingRivers #PromiseOfCommons #RiverCommons #WaterCommons #GenerationRestoration #StrongerTogether #Collaboration
Can natural farming help restore degraded lands while strengthening rural livelihoods?
Achieving agricultural sustainability and advancing Natural Farming (NF) and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) requires looking beyond agriculture alone.
Today’s policies and governance systems often operate in silos, shaping outcomes that fall short of sustainability goals. To drive meaningful change, we need aligned incentives, integrated planning across sectors, and stronger science-policy-practice linkages.
Our latest publication explores how natural farming can be a pathway to achieving Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN). By rebuilding soil health, reducing external inputs, and enabling community-led stewardship of land and natural resources.
At its core, the report highlights that sustainable land restoration is not just about practices, but about people, institutions, and collective governance of the Commons. It highlights how community-led resource management is fundamental to this shift. It also spotlights the need to empower local institutions to steward natural resources and build resilient, sustainable landscapes for the future.
By combining traditional knowledge with modern tools, natural farming offers a scalable approach to address ecological degradation while building climate resilience.
📘 Read the full report:
.in/resources/2024/natural-farming-pathway-towards-land-degradation-neutrality.pdf
#NaturalFarming #ClimateAction #Commons #Sustainability #PromiseOfCommons #LDN #NaturalFarming #LandRestoration #Commons #ClimateAction
What does it take to rebuild a rainforest? In Phalee village, Manipur, restoration did not begin with planting, but with recognising what was being lost.
The absence of baseline data on biodiversity and the gradual erosion of traditional knowledge prompted the community to start documenting their Commons. What followed was a shift in how the landscape was understood and governed. From recording indigenous crops and seasonal cycles to identifying native species with ecological and cultural value, traditional knowledge became the foundation for regeneration.
Over time, this evolved into a community-led system in local institutions, self-help groups, and even schoolchildren play a role in observing, restoring, and sustaining the forest. Initiatives such as these reflect how biodiversity, livelihoods, and knowledge systems are deeply intertwined.
Read the full article, authored by @awor_shatsang and published in 101reporters, here: /article/environment/How_a_Manipur_village_is_rebuilding_its_rainforest_commons
#Conservation #GenerationRestoration #PromiseOfCommons #Restoration #CommunityAction #ClimateChange #Revegetation #Ecosystem #Biodiversity
आज दिनांक 08-05-2026 को माननीय वन मंत्री केदार कश्यप द्वारा “छत्तीसगढ़ वनोपज संरक्षण वाणी” IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System) का शुभारंभ किया गया। यह पहल 13 लाख से अधिक संग्राहक परिवारों के लिए वनोपज आधारित आजीविका सहायता, सूचना एवं संवाद तंत्र को सशक्त बनाने हेतु प्रारंभ की गई है।
इस IVRS प्रणाली के माध्यम से संग्राहकों को उनकी स्थानीय भाषाओं जैसे हिंदी, छत्तीसगढ़ी, गोंडी एवं हल्बी में लघु वनोपज, समर्थन मूल्य (MSP), बाजार भाव, वैज्ञानिक संग्रहण, वनोपज संरक्षण एवं शासकीय योजनाओं से संबंधित महत्वपूर्ण जानकारी उपलब्ध कराई जाएगी। साथ ही महिला स्व-सहायता समूहों हेतु विशेष सूचना सेवाएं भी प्रदान की जाएंगी तथा उपयोगकर्ता अपने सुझाव, अनुभव एवं प्रश्न भी रिकॉर्ड कर सकेंगे।
इस सेवा हेतु टोल फ्री नंबर 9811125813 जारी किया गया है, जिसके माध्यम से संग्राहक आसानी से जानकारी प्राप्त कर सकेंगे।
कार्यक्रम का आयोजन छत्तीसगढ़ राज्य लघु वनोपज सहकारी संघ मर्यादित एवं एफईएस द्वारा किया गया।
कार्यक्रम में संघ की ईडी संजीता गुप्ता (आईएफएस), जाधव सागर रामचंद्र, डीजीएम (आईएफएस), सुबीर कुमार दत्ता (महाप्रबंधक – प्रणाली), प्रीति निषाद (प्रबंधक – वित्त), शशांक साहू (प्रबंधक – लेखा), अनुराधा स्वर्णकार (परियोजना प्रबंधक – उत्पादन), काजल साहू (प्रोग्रामर), शिवनंदन शुक्ला (सीनियर एग्जीक्यूटिव, टेक्निकल) एवं डॉ. गरिमा जयसवाल (आयुर्वेदिक चिकित्सा अधिकारी) उपस्थित रहे।
#Chhattisgarh
#VanopajSanrakshanVani
#MinorForestProduce
#TribalEmpowerment
#ForestLivelihoods
Groundwater may be invisible beneath our feet, but it determines how our landscapes survive and thrive.
Before the monsoon arrives and recharge begins, the pre-monsoon season gives us a vital opportunity to understand the true state of our groundwater.
This is where collective action matters.
The #NapoJalBachaoKal Campaign returns this pre-monsoon season, inviting citizens, communities, students, and institutions across India to join a nationwide citizen science effort to monitor groundwater levels in wells.
A single well measurement may seem small, but together, thousands of observations can help build a deeper understanding of our shared water systems and strengthen its stewardship.
Pre-monsoon Monitoring Cycle: 15 May – 15 June
Know more and participate: .in/groundwater-monitoring-campaign
@India Observatory
#NapoJalBachaoKal #GroundwaterMonitoring #WaterCommons #PromiseOfCommons
Founded in 2001 in Anand, Gujarat, @fesforcommons set out with one conviction: India’s ecological commons — its forests, pasturelands, and water bodies — are not merely assets to be conserved. For over 350 million marginalised people, they are the very ground beneath their dignity.
YBS is honoured to recognise @fesforcommons as a Laureate for Transforming People’s Lives 2026. 🙏
#YashrajBharatiSamman #YBS2026 #GratitudeCeremony #SocialImpact
Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) in Nagaland continue to demonstrate how conservation, when rooted in community stewardship, can be both resilient and adaptive.
At a two-day workshop held in Dimapur, Nagaland, community representatives, practitioners, and government stakeholders came together to reflect on evolving conservation practices across 13 CCA clusters in the state.
The workshop created space to exchange learnings and experiences from the past five years, highlighting what has worked, the challenges that persist, and the strategies that continue to strengthen community-led governance systems. Key themes included safeguarding wildlife corridors, documenting local ecological knowledge through People’s Biodiversity Registers, and recognising the growing role of women in conservation leadership.
As CCAs navigate increasing ecological and socio-economic pressures, such collective platforms remain essential for deepening learning, strengthening institutions, and sustaining conservation efforts grounded in local contexts.
Read more here: https://nagalandtribune.in/workshop-highlights-community-leadership-in-conservation-across-nagaland/
#PromiseOfCommons #CommunityConservation #Nagaland #Biodiversity #WildlifeConservation #Commons #Restoration #CommunityLedAction #Collaboration #CommunityStewardship #StrongerTogether #GenerationRestoration
