Earth + Ecology
Environment · Community · Science · Eco Tourism
"Expanding the future we share."
Mose Valley, Western Ghats · Pune, Maharashtra
Earth + Ecology is a registered public charitable trust helping corporates meet their ESG goals, offset carbon emissions, and create lasting environmental impact in India's biodiversity heartland.
Every programme we run creates value across three dimensions — environmental restoration, community upliftment, and scientific knowledge.
We restore and maintain forest ecosystems across Maharashtra, generating verifiable carbon credits for corporates. Our plantation drives are certified, documented, and reportable for ESG disclosures.
Our Skill Development Centre trains tribal and rural communities in bamboo crafts, Nachni processing, and eco-tourism hospitality — building green entrepreneurs and measurable inclusive growth.
We host researchers, scientists, and students at our Western Ghats facilities — a UNESCO biodiversity hotspot. Corporates can sponsor field research camps and biodiversity studies.
Whether you need verified carbon offsets, employee volunteering days, or a compelling CSR narrative — Earth + Ecology is your ground partner in the Western Ghats.
Our work directly contributes to 7 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
"To build a future where nature, society, and science grow in harmony."
A Pune-based Public Charitable Trust rooted in the Western Ghats, working at the intersection of forest ecology, community development, and scientific research.
Earth + Ecology is a public charitable trust born from a simple conviction: that the earth cannot wait. We work at the meeting point of nature, science, and community.
Earth + Ecology is a registered Public Charitable Trust under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950. We are an organisation of ecologists, researchers, community workers, and passionate environmentalists who believe that the best solutions to the climate crisis lie at the intersection of science, human dignity, and the natural world.
We work across three interconnected verticals — forest restoration and carbon offsetting, tribal skill development and livelihoods, and ecological research — each designed to reinforce the others. Because we know that a forest survives longer when the community around it has a reason to protect it. And that research means more when it translates into real, on-the-ground action.
Our work is grounded in the Western Ghats, one of the world's eight biodiversity hotspots and a UNESCO World Heritage region that is home to thousands of species found nowhere else on earth. This is our classroom, our laboratory, and our responsibility.
The idea for Earth + Ecology grew out of a recurring frustration: that environmental work in India is often fragmented. Plantation drives happen without maintenance plans. Research happens without community involvement. Corporate CSR money flows without lasting accountability. And tribal communities — who are often the best stewards of forests — are left out of the conversation entirely.
We set out to build something different. An organisation where forest restoration creates carbon credits for corporates. Where those same forests become classrooms for researchers and destinations for eco-tourists. Where the communities living nearest to those forests are trained, employed, and economically invested in their protection.
We drew inspiration from models like the Selati Game Reserve in South Africa — where conservation, community, and commerce are not competing forces, but complementary ones. That is the model we are building here, in Maharashtra's hills and valleys.
We are at the beginning of that journey. But the forest doesn't wait, and neither do we.
Earth + Ecology is led by a founder duo who bring together decades of experience on the land, international education, and a shared conviction that this forest deserves better.
Kailas Warghade was born and raised in the Mose Valley, nestled deep in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra — the very land that Earth + Ecology calls home. Over his career, he built a successful real estate business and land bank, developing the commercial acumen that now underpins the trust's operations.
He has provided free plantation support to Sayaji Devrai, the afforestation movement led by acclaimed Marathi actor Sayaji Shinde, and donated 1.5 acres of land to landless tribal and local families — a direct act of the community investment at Earth + Ecology's heart.
"He is the reason this organisation exists where it does — and the reason it will endure."
At 25, Atharva Warghade carries the kind of clarity of purpose that most people spend decades searching for. Educated in BSc International Business Management from Newcastle University, UK, he returned to Maharashtra not just with a degree, but with a blueprint.
Atharva is the architect of Earth + Ecology — the person who took a vision rooted in the Western Ghats and built it into a structured, legally registered, operationally sound organisation. His international education gives him fluency in the language of ESG, CSR, and global sustainability frameworks.
"He bridges two worlds: the business boardroom and the forest floor."
Whether you're a corporate, a researcher, a student, or simply someone who cares — there is a place for you here.
India's forests are disappearing faster than they can grow back. We are working to reverse that — one acre, one species, one community at a time.
Our Forest & Carbon vertical is built around a simple idea: that restoring forest cover is one of the most powerful, proven, and cost-effective tools we have against climate change. We plant trees, maintain ecosystems, and generate verified carbon credits — creating a system where nature heals and businesses can account for their emissions with integrity.
Our work is rooted in the Mose Valley and the Western Ghats — a UNESCO-recognised biodiversity hotspot. Every plantation we establish here doesn't just sequester carbon. It shelters biodiversity, replenishes water tables, and provides livelihoods for the communities who live beside it.
The Western Ghats is one of the world's eight biodiversity hotspots. It is home to over 5,000 species of flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species, and 179 amphibian species — many found nowhere else on earth. It is also the water tower of peninsular India, feeding rivers that sustain hundreds of millions of people.
Restoring forests here doesn't just offset carbon. It protects species from extinction, secures freshwater for downstream communities, and preserves one of humanity's most irreplaceable natural inheritances.
Tell us about your carbon goals or CSR programme.
Tribal and rural communities are among the most skilled stewards of forest ecosystems on earth. We build pathways to sustainable income that grow from the forest, not at its expense.
The communities living in and around the Western Ghats — tribal families, marginalised rural households, women's collectives — are economically vulnerable in ways that directly threaten the forests they inhabit. Without viable income alternatives, deforestation, poaching, and unsustainable agriculture become survival strategies, not choices.
We believe the most durable form of conservation is one that makes it economically worthwhile for communities to protect their environment. Our Skill Development Centre is built on that belief.
Fund a training batch, sponsor a women's entrepreneurship cohort, or create a market linkage programme with auditable, reportable outcomes.
Partner with us to fund a training cohort or livelihood programme.
The Western Ghats is one of the most biodiverse and least studied ecosystems on earth. We provide the infrastructure researchers need to do meaningful field science here.
Recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's eight biodiversity hotspots, the Western Ghats is home to an estimated 5,000+ species of flowering plants, 508 bird species, 179 amphibians, and hundreds of endemic species. Yet this extraordinary ecosystem remains significantly under-researched.
Many species are undescribed. Many ecological relationships are unmapped. The scientific work that needs to happen here is urgent — and Earth + Ecology is building the infrastructure to make it happen.
Researcher, student, or corporate sponsor — we want to hear from you.
Earth + Ecology turns your ESG intentions into documented, verifiable, on-the-ground impact. We work with companies across India to design CSR programmes that are credible, meaningful, and built to last.
The demand for genuine environmental impact has never been higher. Investors, regulators, employees, and consumers are scrutinising ESG claims more carefully than ever. Generic plantation drives and one-off donations no longer tell a compelling story.
Earth + Ecology offers something different: a registered, transparent, multi-dimensional conservation organisation with deep roots in one of India's most significant ecosystems. Our programmes generate documented, third-party-verifiable impact that stands up to scrutiny — in your annual report, your investor disclosures, and the court of public opinion.
Tell us about your ESG goals and CSR budget. We'll respond with a proposal within 48 hours.
The work of restoring ecosystems and empowering communities is funded by people who care. Your support — at any level — directly translates into trees planted, livelihoods created, and science conducted.
Earth + Ecology runs three interconnected programmes — each requiring consistent, sustained funding to deliver real results. Unlike a one-off plantation drive, our work is designed for the long term. A forest we plant today needs maintenance for years. A skill we teach today needs market linkages to become a livelihood. Research conducted today needs follow-up seasons to be meaningful.
Your donation doesn't just fund an event. It funds an outcome.
Join us for a plantation drive, a community workshop, or a field research expedition. Whether you have a day or a season, your time and energy are welcome in the Western Ghats.
Share our work on social media. Tell your company's CSR team about us. Recommend us to a friend who cares about conservation. Word of mouth is still the most powerful force in building a movement.
Are you an ecologist, lawyer, CA, photographer, or researcher? We welcome pro-bono partnerships and advisory relationships. Reach out and let's explore how your expertise can serve the forest.
Every rupee is documented, purposefully deployed, and reported back to you.
Tell us about your sustainability goals. We'll get back within 48 hours with a tailored programme proposal.
Or email us at hello@earthplusecology.org