About FES

Submitted by admin on Thu, 28/11/2019 - 21:02

Foundation for Ecological Security (FES)

Set up in 2001, Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) helps decentralise the top heavy approach to environmental management and demonstrates the strength of local communities to collaborate and deploy local knowledge to cost effectively manage natural resources, Commons in particular. FES strives for a future that appreciates the inter-relationships of various life forms and natural systems, wherein local communities determine and move towards land-use practices that aid conservation as well as offer economic opportunities.

FES advocates for the centrality of ecological and social value creation for the economic well-being of rural communities by working on three fundamental dimensions of rural life:

  • Ecological Restoration: Conserving, restoring, and managing shared natural resources such as forest, land and water bodies.
  • Local Governance: Advancing self-governing capacity, securing rights of local communities on shared natural resources and mobilising local institutions (village and landscape level) to promote inclusion and participation in collective decision-making.
  • Enhanced Livelihoods: Improving the economic opportunities of communities directly dependent on natural resources, the poor in particular, and assisting communities to tailor their consumption of natural resources to suit the ecological capacity of the area.

As of September 2019, FES works in ten eco-regions of the country, reaching more than 21,964 village institutions, assisting in better environmental stewardship of 6.5 million acres of common lands and impacting lives of 11.6 million people across 31 districts in eight states of India, namely Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Nagaland.

The sustained efforts of FES have found recognition in the recent years and it is the proud recipient of the HCL Grant 2017 (Environment category), Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship 2015, Times of India - Social Impact Award 2013 (Environment and NGO category), the United Nations Land for Life Award 2013 and the Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom International Award on Commons (2013, under practitioner category).

For more information, please visit www.fes.org.in