Grow 30,000 trees to restore India's cloud forest

In the hills of India’s Meghalaya region, WeForest is with working with Khasi people, 65 villages to be exact, to restore the dense cloud forest that blankets the East Khasi Hills.

It’s here that your support is having an impact. We’ve planted 1,249,500 trees and sequestered 254,850 tons of CO₂ and, beyond that, we’re empowering indigenous communities in India’s Tribal Belt.

Welcome to the East Khasi Hills, home to Khasi people, a forest-dependent people with conservation values that stem as far back as 500 years ago. Their homes, food, medicine and firewood are all rooted in the forest, their rich culture culminating in the living bridges of Cherrapunjee, built from the roots of native trees strong enough to hold the weight of several people.

The value of the forest seeps into the spiritual realm of the Khasi too, evidenced in the sacred groves that scatter the landscape. The Khasi come to worship and prey on ancient monolithic stones erected in memory of the departed elders.

When we visited the project site in April last year, we took a walk through the forest and got a sense of its deeper meaning for Khasi people. We were in the company of Pynshailang Lyngdoh, a well-known Khasi musician, and while we made our way through the forest, he told us that “if the forests disappear, we lose our pride and honor as well”. As we made our way deeper still, the forest alive with the sound of the pitter-patter of raindrops and the little creatures that sprinkle the forest floor, it was easy to see what he meant.

On behalf of the WeForest team, thank you for continuing to support our efforts. Helping to store carbon and Make Earth Cooler, your impact stretches across the globe. Closer to home, it's being felt by real people, like Daplinda, who value this treasured ecosystem. So on behalf of the Khasi, thank you.