Wild Tiger Habitat Restoration Project in India

It has been harder than we expected to prepare our new forest areas ready for the wild tigers and their prey due to many unexpected obstacles. Firstly, though we must thank you for your generous support and donations, without which none of this would be possible. With roughly seven weeks before the onset of the 2026 monsoon rains, we are collecting the strongest saplings from the nurseries ready to plant over the coming weeks. We had hoped to do this sooner, but rocky sub-terrain and stubborn lantana weed have meant that we needed to bring in mechanical diggers to aid the manual workers on site.

Unexpected Challenges

When we surveyed the reforestation sites at Sarmania and Salkhania, both appeared to have sandy sub-terrain with the former being more challenging due to widespread lantana growth across the 125-acre site. The challenge in Salkhania was slightly different as forest fires had charred much of the former fauna including the majority of invasive lantana but the soil surface was badly charred in some areas which meant more work would be needed to restore soil fertility. Faced with two very different challenges we partnered with the local Eco-Development Committees in each area to provide labour and support for the unique challenges faced. Digging the cattle proof trenches (CPTs) was a priority, as the fresh foliage of new grasses and tree saplings would be far too tempting for the domestic cattle which often wander freely in Bandhavgarh’s Buffer Forests. Digging the CPTs provided lots of employment opportunities for local labourers and for the first 350 metres of the 2 metre (6 feet) deep and 2 metre (6 feet) wide trenches was progressing according to plan when the diggers hit subterranean rock blocking their path! Try as the might, the workers couldn’t brake into the rock with either shovels or pickaxes. A rethink was essential, hiring a mechanical digger would help to clear the rock but needed a different kind of labourer and skilled machine operators, plus there was the hire cost to consider too. Not wishing to lose the goodwill of the workers, we redeployed them to help clear the invasive lantana at the Sarmania site, whilst we searched for the skilled labour needed to clear the rocks with the hire of a digger too.

The lantana clearance proved stubborn too due to its dense fibrous rooted system spreading downwards by up to 1 metre (3 feet) and across by up to 3.5 metres (10 feet) in an entwined mat-like structure. We requested permission, from the Forest Department, to burn the invasive lantana, but the request was denied. Once again, our manual labour efforts were being scuppered. We needed the mechanical diggers to help remove the lantana too!

All the while, the 15 species of native tree saplings which we had identified for planting had to grow in the nursery in environmentally friendly poly-pots which would enable transplanting with their established roots. As each month passed, new challenge arose with the onset of the hot drought season parching the soil and hardening the ground, native grasses were dying back due to the lack of water and shade, which removes the fodder for the wildlife which will ultimately be the tigers’ prey.

We couldn’t give up, but we know that these setbacks will extend the length of our pilot project, probably by 6 – 12 months and thus additional funding for the extra time will be needed too!

The Good News

Thanks to some incredible fundraising efforts by Team Tigers4Ever who walked marathons in challenging British weather last August, the efforts of three other fundraisers who decided to raise funds for the Tree planting too, we have been able to fund the challenges we faced to date. It wouldn’t be possible without the help of our friends at Typical Tigers NFT too, whose generous donations of over £7800 (US$10600) made starting this project possible. Whilst your donations are ensuring that we can continue to buy more saplings and grass seed for planting over the next few weeks too. We are a long way short of the £19300 (US$26200) we need to ensure that we can plant sufficient native trees and grasses on both reforestation sites, but we are making strides in the right direction (https://goto.gg/70006).

In April 2026, our friends at Typical Tigers NFT launched a first of its kind Colouring Book for children aged 4 – 17 years and adults who like colouring too. This book is filled with fascinating fun facts about wild tigers and news of how Tigers4Ever and Typical Tigers NFT are working together to ensure that wild tigers have the wild futures they deserve via the creation of wildlife waterholes, forest restoration and equipping the patrollers who keep wild tigers safe from poachers and would be poisoners. Fifty percent of the profits from the sale of each book is being donated to Tigers4Ever to help our Reforestation Projects too. The book is available to purchase from Amazon on both sides of the Atlantic and supporters in the UK can get their copies here: https://amzn.eu/d/0be8GPuy.

We also have a pledge from one of the Fundraisers who walked 2 marathons for wild tigers last August to match his fundraising total with a donation from his company, so we hope to receive that soon.

Who Benefits

With over 38 mammals including wild tigers, elephants and pangolins; more than 15 species of reptile including king cobras and monitor lizards; over 240 native bird species including 5 endangered vulture species; countless insects and more than 34 species of native trees and shrubs, the whole ecosystem of Bandhavgarh will benefit. It is therefore crucial to get each stage of this project right so that the ecosystem diversity is maintained and all species can thrive in the reforested areas. Thus, our Reforestation project is a long-term solution to restoring lost wildlife habitat for not just wild tigers but for all these other precious species which form the diverse ecosystems which will keep the forest alive.

With two 125-acre sites and the plan to plant up to 100,000 trees and native grasses to ensure that wildlife doesn’t just return, it will stay and thrive, your donations can help to secure the futures for many wild tigers, (https://goto.gg/70006).  At each stage of the project, key milestones will ensure that there are signs that native seed dispersers have returned and enabled plant species which are difficult to cultivate to thrive there too. Alien species, like lantana, and encroachment are ongoing challenges which we must address too as both will threaten the long-term success of our project. We don’t want to install fencing around the reforestation sites, because these hamper natural migration and can kill the wildlife we seek to protect. So, our solutions will be both environmentally friendly and wildlife friendly to ensure sustainability and success.

The construction of Cattle Proof Trenches (CPTs) around each site and lantana clearance has provided local employment for more than 60 people. As we are unable to burn the uprooted lantana, we hope that it can be used for biomass purposes and discussions continue with the local Eco-Development Committees and Forest Department as to how this might benefit the local communities. In the meantime, our priority is to curb the spread of this invasive species and ensure that all remaining lantana plants are uprooted before they can strangle or poison newly planted trees, shrubs and grasses.

The 2026 monsoon season is just a few weeks away and we hope that bountiful rainfall will replenish the soils and accelerate the growth of planted trees and grasses too.

You Helped us to Start but We Need More Help

It is an enormous challenge for a small charity like Tigers4Ever to restore wild tiger habitat and provide more wildlife waterholes when they are most needed, something which is impossible without your help. We want to thank everyone who supported our Giving Tuesday and Little by Little fundraising campaigns and our friends at Typical Tigers NFT who have ensured that we can keep working on our reforestation project whilst we fundraise for each of the next phases.

Your support and donations ensure that we can plant up to 100,000 trees and provide sufficient wildlife waterholes so that the remaining 70 wild tigers which don’t currently have access to a Tigers4Ever permanent wildlife waterhole will do so soon. We NEED to raise £45250/US$61100 to cover the next 12 months of Forest Restoration costs without which we would need to delay the work which be unwise as dispersing wild tiger cubs need safe habitat NOW! With funding we can continue to mobilise local labour and restore habitat in denuded forest, but without funding it will be impossible leading to the deaths of more wild tigers and elephants.

If 300 people read this report and each decide to donate £20 ($28) monthly it would ensure that we have enough funds to regenerate 125 acres of wild tiger habitat which wild tigers desperately need: (https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/wild-tiger-habitat-restoration-project-in-india/?show=recurring. That would be amazing; however, all donations however large or small will truly make a difference today.

As we restore these critical habitats, we provide space and territory for many native plant and animal species, which in turn will help to prevent species extinction and support genetic diversity. Healthy forests provide essential services like clean air, fresh water and soil stabilisation, which are crucial for the well-being of all living things. 

We need to keep wild tigers safe every day. Our anti-poaching patrols are tripled right now to counter the risks of retaliatory poisoning and poaching and will be quadrupled during the monsoon. If, with your help we can regenerate 125 acres of wild Tiger habitat sooner it will help us to keep at least 16 more wild tigers and cubs safe.

Your donations will help us to save wild tigers by funding the following:

- £11 ($15) per month for a year will help to plant 120 tree saplings to restore native forest

- a £26 ($35) gift will plant a mix of 20 tree saplings to help restore the diversity of the ecosystem.

- a £41 ($56) gift will help to clear 10sq.metres (108 square feet) of invasive lantana.

- £111 ($150) can provide enough grass seed to plant 2 acres of wildlife habitat.

- £600 ($810) can cover the cost of labour and preparation of 200 metres (657 feet) of 2 metre wide by 2-metre-deep cattle proof trench to protect the new habitat from livestock grazing.

Every donation, no matter how large or small, helps to increase and protect the wild tiger population. Thank you on behalf of the wild tigers, which you help us to keep safe; and on behalf of the wider tiger community in Bandhavgarh, which benefits from providing equipment and labour for our projects. We couldn’t do this without you, and thanks to you, the wild tigers can live peacefully and those who live beside them can protect their livelihoods.

All donations are welcome https://goto.gg/70006. If you can’t afford to donate perhaps you could become a Tigers4Ever fundraiser, here: https://www.globalgiving.org/dy/v2/fundraisers/start/?fundraiser.projids=70006 and ask your friends, colleagues and family to donate to your fundraiser to help us keep wild tigers safe.

Links:

• Tigers4Ever website
• Become a Fundraiser for wild Tigers
• UK link for Typical Tigers Colouring Book