Protect & restore 7,250 hectares of land, forests, and water bodies

Pledge by

Godrej Consumer Products Limited

We are committed to have a net positive impact on nature and biodiversity in water-stressed regions around our operations. We will develop 2,950 hectares of integrated watershed management programme, 300 hectares of nature and biodiversity restoration and 4,000 hectares of water rejuvenation.

Type
Conserving, Restoring & Growing, Enabling
This pledge will take place from
2021 to 2028
Location
India

Company website

Pledge overview

We are committed to have a net positive impact on nature and biodiversity. Our priority areas are manufacturing sites in water-stressed regions. We aim to protect and restore 7,250 hectares of land, forests, and water bodies by 2030. Climate change, biodiversity loss and water scarcity are closely linked and together they threaten food security, livelihoods, and lead to extreme weather events.

We invested in afforestation programmes and carbon sequestration initiatives within our watershed projects that capture water, store carbon and preserve biodiversity of the region, while boosting livelihoods. Through this, we recharge over 15x the water we use.

1. Integrated watershed development project (2,950 ha, treated and completed)

Our integrated watershed development project is dedicated to restoring the ecological balance in the drought-prone district of Siddipet in Telangana. Currently, groundwater levels in many areas are below 400 feet, placing significant pressure on farmers. To address this, we have joined forces with NABARD and a local NGO to rejuvenate the land, replenish groundwater levels, facilitate essential irrigation, prolong cropping cycles, enhance both the quality and quantity of produce, improve livelihoods, and promote sustainable agricultural practices.

We have successfully treated 2,950 hectares of land, covering the total project area. To date, we have planted 2 lakh (200,000) trees and distributed over 8.5 lakh (850,000) saplings for direct planting and seed dibbling. Additionally, the project has established 39 pandals and installed 25 drip irrigation systems on farmers’ lands, with a 30% contribution from the beneficiary farmers. We have also trained over 100 farmers in alternative agricultural practices. We have captured over 9 million m3 of water through the project and sequester 20,344 tCO2 annually.

2. Biodiversity restoration project (300 ha, ongoing)

In our Biodiversity restoration project, we are working with local residents and landowners to ecologically restore degraded forests and grow native trees on agroforestry lands in the Western Ghats and Konkan of southern Maharashtra. We aim to restore 90,000 native evergreen trees and provide 300,000 saplings and seedlings to nurseries. We used both land-sparing and land-sharing approaches.

3. Water rejuvenation project (4,000 ha, planned)

Lastly, our water rejuvenation project, aims to capture over 38 million m3 of water in 11 water-stress communities of Bhind, Madhya Pradesh. Moreover, the project will plant 8,000 trees across the villages, increase ground water levels, recharge dry open wells, build check-dams and renovate ponds among other initiatives to increase water availability and ensure water security of the region.

Actions in this pledge

  • Conserving trees and forest landscapes

    Supporting actions
    Conservation support activities
    Support the operating costs and activities of existing conservation areas, including advocacy for conservation policy
    Additional details

    Why biodiversity conservation?
    Up to 95% of Earth’s land is projected to be degraded by 2050. This poses severe threats to the biodiversity and to the billions of people who rely on these lands for their livelihoods. Hence forming partnerships with local communities for ecological restoration is crucial for biodiversity conservation and sustaining the livelihoods of local communities in the long term.

    Need for private land management
    The Western Ghats in India are one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. It faces significant threats from habitat loss and degradation. The Most Protected Areas in the Western Ghats are at high elevations. In the absence of protected areas, private lands can play an important role in securing lowland forests and their rich biodiversity. Most privately owned low-elevation forests are periodically cleared for fuelwood or increasingly converted into agroforestry plantations.

    Conserving

  • Restoring and growing trees and forest landscapes

    Supporting actions
    Reforestation
    Re-establishment of forest through planting and/or deliberate seeding on land classified as forest, that has been degraded or where trees are unlikely to regenerate naturally
    Agroforestry
    Activities that establish and manage the integration of trees into agricultural landscapes, silvopastoral systems, farming in forests and along forest margins and tree-crop production
    Watershed protection and erosion control
    Establishment and enhancement of forests on very steep sloping land, along water courses, in areas that naturally flood and around critical water bodies
    Additional details

    Our integrated watershed management programme has delivered on three objectives:

    1. Enhanced water availability by promoting rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, and efficient water use. Leading to increased water supply, for agriculture, drinking, and other uses, especially in drought-prone areas.

    2. Prevented soil erosion and degradation by implementing soil and water conservation practices like contour bunding, check dams, and afforestation. This improves soil fertility, leading to better crop yields and sustainable agriculture.

    3. Improved soil carbon and enhance local biodiversity, improve the resilience of ecosystems, and mitigate the effects of climate change by promoting afforestation and sustainable land use practices.

    We began the watershed programme in 2017 but faced delays on ground. We completed the project in 2024. We covered 8 villages, 1,500 households, and over 2,00,000 plantations. We have captured over 9 million m3 of water in the region and sequestered 20,334 tCO2 annually. The project’s Verra verification is completed and submitted awaiting for final review.

    We prepared six-monthly reports of the project and maintained a centralized progress update on our MIS system to store and analyze and monitor programme data, outcomes and impact.

    In our Biodiversity restoration project: we are working with local residents and landowners to ecologically restore degraded forests and grow native trees on agroforestry lands in the Western Ghats and Konkan of southern Maharashtra. We used both land-sparing and land-sharing approaches. Land-sparing involves partnering with locals who have generously spared land for ecological restoration while land-sharing involves partnerships which enable us to plant native trees in their agroforestry farms. This prevents the farms from becoming monocultures of a single tree species and revive natural evergreen forests historically found in this landscape.

    We will conduct quarterly surveys to record the survival rate of the planted saplings and annual biodiversity surveys to document the presence of native flora and fauna in the restored areas. The partners will maintain a centralized database on Godrej’s MIS system to store and analyze and monitor programme data, outcomes and impact.

    Restoring & Growing

    Land area
    7,250 ha
  • Enabling activities for trees and forest landscapes

    Supporting actions
    Nursery and seedling development
    Establish tree nurseries, including actions such as identification and collection of seeds and/or growing seedlings
    Sustainable forest management
    Activities that support the stewardship and use of forests (including by local communities and indigenous peoples), to maintain their biological diversity, productivity, and regeneration capacity, as well as their potential to fulfil relevant ecological economic and social functions
    Education and capacity building
    Forest / tree species conservation and restoration education programmes, targeted educational and behaviour change campaigns, training and capacity building, including promotion of local and traditional knowledge and practices
    Community mobilisation
    Community mobilisation and engagement activities for conservation, restoration and reforestation, including enabling systems of community governance, etc.
    Additional details

    All our projects mentioned above – integrated watershed management project, biodiversity restoration project, and water rejuvenation project – establish nurseries, build capacity of local communities, drive community mobilization and enable sustainable forest management.

    These engagements are an inherent part of our programmes. All programme data KPIs are monitored on our MIS system and through internal, and external audits on project sites.

    Enabling

Carbon benefits

20,334 tons annually

Our ecologically and socially responsible approach

Our pledged projects are ecologically responsible, climate-informed and socially responsible. All our projects plant diverse, native tree species that are suited to the local conditions and regions. We avoid any invasive species. We aim to enhance the existing biodiversity of a region by creating healthy habitats. All our projects involve local residents and landowners. We promote equity by providing training and empowering local communities to take decisions and drive accountability for the sustainability of the projects.

We acknowledge standards such as International Union for Conservation of Nature and have taken guidance from it and national guidelines to implement our projects that are tailored specific to the region and needs of the community and environment.

We acknowledge standards such as International Union for Conservation of Nature and have taken guidance from it and national guidelines to implement our projects that are tailored specific to the region and needs of the community and environment. We also refer to the Principles for Ecosystem Restoration to Guide the UN Decade 2021-2030, the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions, the IUCN Guiding Principles of Forest Landscape Restoration, and the GMA's Mangrove Breakthrough Guiding Principles.

Our results tracking

For ecological impacts, we will conduct annual biodiversity surveys, independent third-party impact assessments, and carbon sequestration modeling.

For social impacts, we will track impact through independent third-party impact assessments, surveys and longitudinal studies.

Ecological metrics

Water captured
Carbon sequestered

Social metrics

Number of people with improved access to water
Increase in incomes of people

Our system of accreditation

Verra Standard for Sustainable Agriculture and Land Management project
Independent third-part impact assessment for Watershed project

Our partners

Feedback Foundation
Nature Conservation Foundation
Watershed in collaboration with NABARD implemented by PEACE (People Action for Creative Education)

Our locations

We are working at locations across India.

Including:
Siddepet, Telangana, India
Sahyadri Range, Western Ghats, India
Malenadu, Western and Easter Ghats, India
Anaimalai Hills, Southern and Western Ghats, India
Malanpur, Bhind District, India