After that, Ms. Sarayu gave us a background about the severe degradation in the Western Ghats that is threatening the Biodiversity as well as livelihoods. Resource depletion harms ecosystem services and local communities and thus causes an Ecological Imbalance.   The Ghats sustain 245 million people, agriculture, as well as a diverse wildlife making them vital for Economy and Ecology. The rising environmental risks include landslides, due to deforestation, mining, and construction. Degradation disrupts water availablility and farming and causes sociio-economic instability. She talked about the thematic areas that they work on viz., water security, climate smart agriculture, planting saplings and grasses, and livelihood and skill development in the local people. Raah foundation is operating in the Western Ghats in the districts of Palghar, Nasik, Raigad, and Ahilyanagar. They dig ponds and trenches to retain the rainwater which is used in the rest of the year for irrigating the saplings. Water is also pumped to the topmost level and from there it flows down by gravitation. Irrigation and watershed treatment increases the ground water levels. Conservation is done by protection of the saplings, removal of invasive species, and creation of fire lines. Humus which is organic in nature is used to increase water holding capacity of the soil. Vetiver grass is planted which helps in soil and moisture conservation. Regeneration and re-growth observed in the project so far is 450%. 51 youth have been directly employed by the Raah foundation. Sarayu and her team foster a deep engagement with the community to create stewardship and leadership amongst them to take responsibility of the forest and make their efforts truly sustainable. Community engagement also creates awareness about man-animal conflicts through Gram Vikas Samiti, students, and through local folk art. Livelihoods being introduced include Eco-tourism, Bee-keeping, and Briquettes making from farm residue.  Water holes are made for the increasing wild life. The impact of all the efforts is quite visible after one year.  There is increase in biodiversity; the ground water has increased, and the air and water quality has increased. So, basically, there are four pillars of ReGreen Nation which are: Ecological restoration process, Community engagement, Green livelihoods, and Monitoring. Raah Foundation has partnerships in Nasik with the Collector, Zilla Parishad, and the Forest Department. The species planted are also well documented. 

The response received for this presentation was very good.  There were people from all over the nation curious to listen to this topic that carried an innovative solution to the ever increasing problem of ecological degradation