Description

Our main project is the reforestation of 70 acres of severely eroded land. We are working to re-create the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest indigenous to our area. This forest type is found only in Southern India and Sri Lanka and provides a rare biological richness due to its very high species abundance (over 1000 species of trees, shrubbery, and liana). The Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest is now close to total extinction as only 0.01% survives. This is a last moment effort to keep this very rich and beautiful Forest on earth.

As part of our reforestation effort we are also working on water conservation and soil management

Our experience with volunteers has been very positive. Volunteers from all over the world create here a dynamic community atmosphere. Living and sharing in a communal atmosphere brings us in harmony with nature and ourselves. One of our volunteers put it very nicely in her letter to us when she left, "May there be many forests to grow people".

We are happy to welcome volunteers here any time of the year and always have plenty of space for them!!! We are fully committed to accept everyone that wishes to volunteer here and help recreate the forest. You do not need to let us know the date of your arrival unless you wish to do so. Volunteers are welcome to arrive here from Monday to Friday before noon (12:00). We welcome volunteers Monday to Friday at 14:00, and want to give everyone arriving here the information and attention they need.

Volunteers should not to use drugs and alcohol during their entire stay at Sadhana Forest, whether inside or outside of Sadhana Forest!!! If you think you cannot stop using these substances for the length of time of your stay here, please find another project.

There is a designated cigarette smoking area.

Accommodation for volunteers is in exchange for a 20 hour work week (4 hours a day, 5 days a week).

Other free facilities for volunteers include a small swimming pool, free 24/7 unlimited access to the internet with your own laptop, a small collection of books, daily yoga class, the use of several bicycles, and a playground for children.

Volunteers mainly plant, mulch and water trees according to season, work in our little vegan-organic vegetable garden, maintain the community area, and spend time with the community kids.

We appreciate creativity and initiative and welcome any ideas you may have to improve our project and our community.

We practice an eco-friendly way of life including veganism, alternative construction, solar energy, biodegradable toiletries, and compost toilets.

Sadhana Forest is a nonprofit ecological project that does not generate any income, therefore we unfortunately cannot afford to provide free food for volunteers. We have communal 100% vegan meals. We all equally share the cost of the food ingredients we purchase. The total cost of food per person is 150 Indian Rupees per day (about 3 USD). In the future, when we grow more of our own food, we hope to pay less. Everyone takes turns organizing and cooking the meals and washing the dishes. Depending on the number of people here at a given time, each meal has one or more cooks, plus help from whomever is around.

Sadhana Forest is a 100% vegan environment, so we ask volunteers not to bring or eat any non-vegan food in the forest. A vegan is a person who avoids the use of any animal products for nourishment or for any other purpose. Vegans do not eat meat, fish, eggs, dairy (milk) products, honey, or any other animal products. Our primary motivation to be vegans is to reduce animal suffering.

We are also very interested in longer term volunteers/interns staying with us for a period of three months or longer.

We are part of the international community of Auroville, 6 km north of Pondicherry, in Tamil Nadu, South East India.

Auroville offers a wealth of courses, classes, workshops and treatments in many areas of interest, including yoga, meditation, tai-chi, shiatsu, watsu (water shiatsu), free dance and many other kinds of alternative healing therapies.

Below is a brief overview of our activities since we started Sadhana Forest in December 2003. This overview covers the almost five years from December 19th 2003 (the day we moved into Sadhana Forest which was then totally barren land) to December 9th 2008:

* Indigenous Tree Planting:

We planted more than 20,500 Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest plants of 150 different indigenous species, and are constantly mulching and caring for them.

Survival rate in average is between 80% - 90%. Survival rate does not fall below 70% even on the most degraded soil

* Water table recharge and conservation:

More than 7 kilometers of trenches have been dug and eight earth dams have been built, altogether storing more than 50,000 cubic meters of rain water.

As a result of this work underground water level has risen by 6 meters from an average of 26 feet deep during 2003 (before Sadhana Forest was started) to an average of 6 feet during 2007 after four years of intensive water conservation work.

* Outreach and Education:

A very warm friendship has developed between us and the villagers around. We work together to regenerate and protect our area. The project is very frequently visited by local people, especially kids. Every visitor is welcome and gets an explanation of the project and its value to the environment.

More than 1,600 volunteers, interns, and students from India and around the world have lived and worked in Sadhana Forest for periods of 2 weeks to 24 months. Accommodation in Sadhana Forest is always free.

Hundreds of children from the surrounding villages and from Auroville have planted TDEF trees.

Over 50 kids are regularly caring for the trees they planted on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

Twenty Ecological Living workshops were given as part of the Auroville Winter Integral Studies Program. Totally more than 600 people attended these workshops:

The second Van Utsav (Indian Forest Festival) was hosted in March 2006, with attendance of over 100 people from all over India.

During the festival lots of relevant update environmental information and skills were exchanged between the participants.

A group of students from Plymouth State University, New Hampshire stayed in Sadhana Forest with their professor in January 2008 and their experiences are described at our website.

More than 4 thousand people have visited Sadhana Forest for a few hours and received a basic introduction to our work.

In June 2008, we started the Eco-Film Club. Every Friday we host 20-80 guests for a free environment film screen, tour of the project, and free vegan dinner.

* Sustainable Infrastructure:

Sustainable infrastructure was installed that can host local and international volunteers.

All structures are built from local natural materials. A solar system, dry composting toilets, and a grey water system have been installed. Water infrastructure has been built that enables to water trees on 30% of the land.

Intern Types

Languages

• English

Cost in US$:

none

Experience Required

no

Volunteer Types

Age Range

any

This Program is open to

American, Australian, Canadian, European, Kiwi, South African and Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals.

Typical Living Arrangements

• Group living
• Independent living
• Other

Participants Travel

Independently or in Groups

Typically Participants Work

Independently or in Groups of 25

Scholarships are Available

Those staying for more than 3 months will be cosidered for a scholarship.

Sadhana Forest's Mission Statement

Our main project is the reforestation of 70 acres of severely eroded land in the international community of Auroville. We are working to re-create the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest indigenous to our area. We practice an eco-friendly way of life including veganism, organic gardening, alternative construction, solar energy, and composting toilets.

Year Founded

2003