Grow a Forest

Rebuilding Soil to Anchor Forest Life

To create native forests that are dense, diverse, and multi-layered, we begin with the soil. By mimicking the richness of natural forest soils, we enable indigenous keystone species to flourish—ensuring that growth above ground stays in mutual harmony with the life beneath it.

Category

Rejuvenating the earth

Ecology and Flora

Adaptable to diverse ecosystems

Location

Worldwide

Highlights

Living Forest Soils

Healthy forest soil is alive—with organic matter, native root systems, natural porosity, moisture-holding capacity, nutrients, and microbes. This living foundation anchors biodiversity and sustains the forest above.

Thoughtful Human Input

Rebuilding begins with mindful intervention: selecting native species suited to local ecology, enriching with mulch and natural nutrients, and regulating moisture. These deliberate actions recreate conditions that allow soil systems to recover.

Hidden Networks of Forest Life

Beneath the surface, roots, fungi, and microbes form nutrient-sharing networks. This unseen communication builds plant health, enhances forest resilience, and weaves together the ecological fabric of soil and trees.

Reviving Soil Microbiology

We actively restore microbial diversity through compost tea and natural microbiology elixirs. These practices rebuild soil food webs, accelerating natural processes that return vigor and vitality to forest ecosystems.

Impact

Soil as Storyteller

Most human habitats hold soil with its own history. Dug out, shifted, mixed with debris, or treated as mere dust, soil loses its ecological character. Yet soil is not just a medium for plants—it is an ecosystem in itself. When soil loses its vitality, so too does the life it sustains. Our work begins by restoring the lost capacity of soil to nurture microorganisms, plants, insects, and birds. In doing so, we re-establish the ancient association between healthy soil and native flora, allowing forests to take root and thrive.
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Learning from Natural Patterns

The question often arises: what minerals does my forest need, and how should we provide them? The answer lies in natural succession. Soils, like the plant communities that grow on them, develop distinct ecological identities. When human disturbance is minimized, soils sustain their associated species without external inputs. The sandy soils of Rajasthan host hardy trees like Kumath (Acacia senegal), while the clay-rich, moist soils of the Netherlands support specialists like Oak (Quercus robur). Recognizing and respecting these natural soil-plant relationships is the key to creating resilient forests across diverse geographies.
Lessons from India to Armenia

At one site in Madhya Pradesh, we encountered soil with unusually high nitrogen levels and strong acidity—a legacy of decades of rice farming with Urea. Excess nitrogen through Urea had destroyed microbial life and left the land barren. Here, we revived soil microbiology using Jeevamrit and Ghan Jeevamrit, inputs inspired by Dr. Subhash Palekar’s Zero Budget Farming. In Armenia, the story was different: forest soils around native oak groves revealed thriving fungal networks and rich mycelial layers. By planting Oaks alongside their native associates, we are working towards amplifying these fungal communities, restoring balance and resilience.
Lessons from the Netherlands

Across continents, we have seen how soil revival determines the fate of forests. In the Netherlands, a study by Wageningen University on our Tiny Forests in Zaanstad found that, within just a few years, our soils developed fungal and bacterial richness comparable to mature natural forests. Whether in degraded fields of central India, oak groves in Armenia, or urban landscapes in Mexico, the principle holds: forests grow when soils are healed. By rebuilding soil life, we lay the true foundation for dense, diverse native forests—living systems that regenerate themselves and return ecological resilience to the land (Further reading).

More impact stories

Worldwide

Rebuilding Soil to Anchor Forest Life

New Delhi

Forestscaping – A Thoughtful Integration of Forests, Art, and Design

Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Soil Restoration in the Thar Desert using Millets and Grasses

New Delhi

Restoration & Reforestation on the Banks of Yamuna in New Delhi

San Miguel

Mexico

Assam

Forest survey of Assam