Ramesh Venkataraman

Ramesh Venkataraman

Managing Trustee, Junglescapes Charitable Trust
Director, Society for Ecological Restoration (SER)

Ramesh Venkataraman has been actively engaged in ecological restoration since 2007. He is the Managing Trustee of Junglescapes Charitable Trust, a non-profit engaged in restoration of degraded forest ecosystems in a biodiversity hotspot in India. The non-profit follows a community-participative model where local village communities, mostly indigenous, are active partners in the projects. Junglescapes received the SER Full Circle award in 2017 for its inclusive model of restoration. Over 3500 acres of degraded forests have been restored to healthy wildlife habitats so far.

Ramesh is on the Board of Directors of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), the leading world body for ecological restoration, since 2017. He is currently the Chair of the ad hoc committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at SER. A Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner, his areas of specialisation include management of invasive alien plant species, assisted natural regeneration, design of restoration projects for rewilding by keystone fauna and restoration of fire affected areas. He is active in spreading awareness about ecological restoration and has been a speaker at many restoration conferences at the national and international levels. He writes regularly on conservation and restoration topics. He also runs a training program on ecological restoration in collaboration with a leading educational institution in India.