Vanashree Eco-Center
The Vanashree Eco Center was an ecological initiative of Isha Foundation to preserve the delicate ecology and the rich bio-diversity of the Velliangiri Mountains in Tamil Nadu, South India. The initiative has now been merged with the foundation’s Project GreenHands initiative.
The Velliangiri Mountains Conservation Campaign of the Eco Center was initiated during the International Year of the Mountains, in 2002, to conserve and protect this mountain range. It also aimed to educating youth about conservation and ecology through experiential programs.
In an effort to preserve and propagate the area's rich environmental resources, the Vanashree Eco Center conducted mass tree planting programs and cleaning campaigns, helped prevent poaching of native wildlife, and worked to conserve the gene pool of these mountains by propagating the native species in the area.
Regular nature education programs are conducted with school children each summer to help promote environmental awareness among the younger generation. The programs cover aspects of nature education and conservation that are generally not covered in the normal curriculum of the schools.
