From the Management Desk

India confronts a significant crisis.

Land degradation has alarmingly escalated from 28.76% to 29.7%, alongside an expansion in desertification from 81.48 million hectares to 83.69 million hectares. This precarious trend, fuelled by soil loss, deforestation, wind erosion, and climate change, endangers agriculture and exhausts resources. Rural communities, heavily reliant on their natural ecosystems, bear the brunt of these adverse effects. Extreme climate events - heatwaves, floods, droughts, and landslides - further intensify the crisis, triggering devastating consequences such as crop failure, livelihood loss, health concerns, and increased poverty. The country's rainfed regions suffer disproportionately, bearing the heaviest burden.

In the face of this threat, WOTR's Community-led Integrated Watershed Development approach, built on the principles of Ecosystem-based Adaptation, offers a beacon of hope. This holistic strategy addresses rural poverty systemically, encompassing everything from soil and water conservation to sustainable agriculture and biodiversity preservation. 

Our objective is to mobilise rural communities using this approach, enhancing their capacity to adapt to climate change while concurrently broadening their livelihood options. Over the past three decades, this has allowed us to touch the lives of 4.95 million people across 10 states and 5,107 villages. Moreover, we have facilitated the creation of over 14,729 SHGs involving 171,512 women. We have regenerated 2.45 million hectares of land, and through these efforts, created a potential water harvesting capacity exceeding 158 billion litres. We are proud of these achievements, but we recognise the road ahead requires more work and innovation.

In the past year, we achieved several significant milestones. Our notable launch of 'The Water Governance Standard: Making Water Everybody's Business" encapsulates our distinctive approach to water management, refined over years of grassroots engagements. The year further amplified our operations' scale. We ventured into integrated watershed development in Karnataka and expanded our reach to 120 villages in Maharashtra's Dharashiv (previously Osmanabad) district and 200 in Rajasthan's Baran district as part of the Central Government's Aspirational Districts Programme. Additionally, our work commenced in 35 villages in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, meriting a special commendation from the Hon. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

W-CReS, our transdisciplinary action research division, also garnered significant recognition this year. The Adaptation Research Alliance (ARA) highlighted our successful implementation of EbA in Maharashtra's Bhojdari and Purushwadi villages. Springer Nature featured our seminal study on impact of heat and variations in temperature and humidity in low-income households. Moreover, our groundbreaking investigation into understanding mental models of sustainable groundwater management among farmers in Maharashtra's semi-arid regions was published in the Groundwater for Sustainable Development journal.

ECOBARI, our multi-stakeholder initiative advocating Nature-based and Nature-positive Solutions, spearheaded a series of impactful webinars promoting sustainable and equitable agricultural practices in India. These sessions sparked engaging discussions on pivotal topics, from sustainable water resource management benefits to emerging Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) challenges, fostering fruitful stakeholder dialogues.

As we look towards the future and our 30th year, we are filled with renewed hope and commitment. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all of you - our partners and donors for your unwavering support through the crests and troughs. Your belief in our work fuels our drive to evolve, innovate, and serve our communities more effectively. As we journey forward together, we are excited about our shared mission to address the evolving needs of our environment and the people who depend on it.

Together, we can build a future that's not just resilient but vibrant and flourishing for all.

Best Regards,

Crispino Lobo ,Co-founder & Managing Trustee

Prakash Keskar, Executive Director

Marcella D’Souza, Director, W-CReS