
In 2016, the Balipara Foundation embarked on an ambitious journey to restore forests across Assam’s “Elephant Country”, a belt stretching from a belt stretching from Udalguri district all the way to Sonitpur, along the Arunachal Pradesh - Assam - Bhutan border. As this dream began to take shape, we found ourselves drawn to the same question over and over again: why not forests and people?
Hours of deliberation later and we had an answer: Rural Futures, the key to reconciling human & biodiversity needs.
A scalable, localized action framework for natural capital regeneration, Rural Futures visualizes communities as the primary stewards of habitat restoration & management. Through habitat-mediated incomes, communities achieve greater socioeconomic mobility, generating a self-sustaining loop of sustainable incomes and businesses for forest-fringe communities.
In 2016, the Balipara Foundation embarked on an ambitious journey to restore forests across Assam’s “Elephant Country”, a belt stretching from a belt stretching from Udalguri district all the way to Sonitpur, along the Arunachal Pradesh - Assam - Bhutan border. As this dream began to take shape, we found ourselves drawn to the same question over and over again: why not forests and people?
Hours of deliberation later and we had an answer: Rural Futures, the key to reconciling human & biodiversity needs.
A scalable, localized action framework for natural capital regeneration, Rural Futures visualizes communities as the primary stewards of habitat restoration & management. Through habitat-mediated incomes, communities achieve greater socioeconomic mobility, generating a self-sustaining loop of sustainable incomes and businesses for forest-fringe communities.

The Rural Futures Mission

The NaturenomicsTM Civilization



EASTERN HIMALAYAS


10 Million

10 Million

30,000


30,000
Natural Capital

Natural Capital


Diana Owen
CEO of Conservation and Education Charities, London, U.K.
Diana has grown the SBT’s national and international profile and reputation, leading significant cultural and capital projects in Stratford and with partners worldwide.

Gunter Pauli
Innovator, Disrupter, Entrepreneur, author of The Blue Economy, Paris, France
His latest initiatives include the design of a solution for the plastic soup floating in the oceans and the creation of a protective zone with islands to avert rising sea levels. He is actively involved to ensure that the largest herd of rhinos (2,400 in Kaziranga National Park in India) will be free of poachers thanks to an intensive economic and community development program in coordination with organic tea plantations.

Hasina Kharbhih
Ashoka Fellow; Aspen LI Fellow; Founder - Impulse NGO Network
For 30 years now, she been working to provide sustainable livelihoods in a safe environment for women and children. She created the nationally and internationally acknowledged Impulse Model (formerly known as The Meghalaya Model) a holistic method to address human trafficking. The Impulse model has won awards such as the Japanese Award For Most Innovative Development Project from the Japanese Social Development Fund, which has also supported the organization to scale its work in Myanmar since 2013,Nepal and Bangladesh.
Ms. Kharbhih has gained a multi-sector expertise, including leadership and Institutional Management, human rights, livelihoods and rural development, anti-human trafficking, migration, gender-based violence, child rights, HIV/AIDS education and intervention, substance abuse and adolescent health.

Julie Stein
Executive Director, Co-Founder - Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network
Ms. Stein helps the organization reach its mission of setting the global standard for wildlife friendly enterprise and assisting members to reach new and dynamic markets.
Ms. Stein is a Conservation Biologist (Yale MES 2000) and entrepreneur specializing in endangered species conservation and human wildlife conflict. She is a co-founding Board Member of Certified Wildlife Friendly™ and has served on the board from 2007 to the present, leading signature initiatives to network Wildlife Friendly enterprises around the world.

Kamal Bawa
Prof. University of Massachusetts; Founder, ATREE
He is also the founder of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE). In 2012, Bawa received the first Gunnerus Sustainability Award, the world’s major international award for work on sustainability. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Manoj Badale
Venture Builder, Social Entrepreneur, Charity Digital Founding Trustee, London, U.K.
He has been the co-founder of over thirty businesses, largely technology related, all setup with his business partner Charles Mindenhall, which they manage through their venture building group – Blenheim Chalcot.
Manoj and Charles’s first venture was netdecisions group, a major internet services provider, which has evolved into a broad based 2000-person IT and Business Process Services and outsourcing business, now trading as Agilisys.
Manoj is the founding owner of the Rajasthan Royals, an Indian Premier League cricket franchise.
Manoj is committed to creating positive social change through charitable activity. He is the founding trustee & chairman of the British Asian Trust.

Lord Nicholas Stern
Chair, Grantham Research Institute on Environment & Climate Change – LSE, global leader on climate action

Professor Jianchu Xu
Professor, Kunming Institute of Botany; Founder, Mountain Futures initiative
Professor Jianchu Xu is a professor at Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is an internationally respected leading ethno-ecologist who works in coupled human environmental systems. His research includes investigation of early warning signals of global change, transboundary water governance, landscape restoration, ecosystem services and their resilience, agriculture, and integrative conservation.
Professor Jianchu Xu holds a PhD in Soil Science from China Agricultural University and has published over 100 papers in high-impact journals including Nature, Science, PNAS, Conservation Biology, Fungal Diversity, and Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.

Pradeep Banerjee
Executive Director – Supply Chains, Hindustan Unilever India (retd.)
With Hindustan Unilever, he has held a series of assignments in Supply Chain, Research & Development and Categories serving as Vice President – Technical (Home and Personal Care) and Vice President, Global Supply Chain for Personal Care Category.
He led the Unilever Nepal Limited as the Chairman and was also a member of the HUL Risk Management Committee.

Rama Bijapurkar
Independent Management Consultant and Professor of Practice, IIM - Ahmedabad
She is also co-founder of think tank and fact tank People Research on India’s Consumer Economy and Citizen Environment whose mission it is to provide a people level view of India for use in public policy and business strategy. She is also Professor of Management Practice at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Rama is one of India’s most experienced and prominent independent directors having served on the boards of several of India’s blue chip companies such as Infosys, Axis Bank, Bharat Petroleum, National Payment Corporation of India, CRISIL etc . Present boards include Nestle India, ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd. She has also served on governing councils of entities like Banking Codes and Standards Board of India, Insurance Information Bureau, IIM Ahmedabad, on the eminent person advisory group to the Competition Commission of India, and has been a fellow of MasterCard Centre for Inclusive Growth and Centre for Emerging Market Economies, Fletcher School.

Rohan Shah
Counsel, Bombay High Court & Supreme Court
Renowned for his practical knowledge of India’s indirect, domestic, and international taxation codes and policies, Rohan has been appointed to various expert committees formed by the Indian Ministry of Finance and the Indian Ministry of Commerce. He was a member of the Indian commerce minister’s negotiating team at the WTO ministerial conferences in Seattle in November 1999. He was recently appointed as legal expert of the Central Board of Excise and Customs sub-committee constituted by the Ministry of Finance in March 2016 to investigate all issues relating to the imposition of excise duty on jewellery.

S. Ramadorai
Governing Council Member - TISS, India
He has served as the Chairman of AirAsia, Tata Advanced Systems Limited, Tata Technologies Limited and the Bombay Stock Exchange. In recognition of Ramadorai’s commitment and dedication to the IT industry he was awarded the Padma Bhushan (India’s third highest civilian honour) in January 2006.
In April 2009, he was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to the Indo-British economic relations.
He has also served as Chairman of National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) where he sought to standardize the skilling effort, ensure quality and commonality of outcomes by leveraging technology and create an inclusive environment to co-operate, collaborate & co-exist.

Shankar Venkateswaran
Head ESG Engagement - ECube Investment Advisors

Usha Lachungpa
Biologist & Biodiversity Expert in Endangered Species

Vandana Shiva
Founder & Executive Trustee - Navdanya
In 1991, she founded Navdanya, a national movement to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seed, the promotion of organic farming and fair trade.Navdanya, which translates to “Nine Seeds” or “New Gift”, is an initiative to educate farmers of the benefits of maintaining diverse and individualized crops rather than accepting offers from monoculture food producers. The initiative established over 40 seed banks across India to provide regional opportunity for diverse agriculture.

Vishaka Hussain Pathak
Consultant – Asia Society Hong Kong
She was Consultant, Balipara Foundation in 2007,.Vishaka worked with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) as Advisor to USIBC President and as Director Policy Development and Advocacy.

Ashok Kumar Gupta
Naturenomics™ Executive - Commercials

Ankit Jha
Naturenomics™ Executive Vertical Researcher
A post-graduate in Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Ankit is associated with Balipara Foundation’s Naturenomics™ Executive Vertical as a researcher. Ankit brings in his sociological expertise to the organisation in analysing and resolutioning the trade-off between society and environment. As a Researcher, Ankit is involved in bridging knowledge gaps and develops publication material as a part of the foundation’s communication strategy. Currently, he is working on socio-economic and environmental policy research with regards to the Eastern Himalayan region and aims to contribute in building a sustainable future for the local communities as envisioned by the foundation. Ankit is also involved in a habitat restoration program at the Kaziranga National Park. His previous work stints have ranged from conducting socio-economic studies and stakeholder outreach while working on community centric mindful eco-tourism in Uttarakhand to developing communication materials and successfully conducted a research project on Climate Resilient Zero Budget Natural Farming in Andhra Pradesh, also studied the impact of ZBNF on biodiversity of the state.

Barnali Dutta
Rural Futures- Botanist

Cynthia Doley
Associate- Forums and Communications

Dipti Gorh
Naturenomics™ Executive
A research scholar specialized in greenhouse gas emission, estimation and mitigation from rice agriculture, Dipti Gorh is associated to Balipara Foundation as a Naturenomics™ Executive Executive and her prime responsibilities centres upon coordinating various training programs and workshops for Eastern Himalayan Naturenomics™ Executive School, supervising internship programs as well as supporting operations in Eastern Himalayan Botanical Ark. Dipti is also engaged in formulating the Advocacy team of Balipara Foundation. In her career with the foundation she has drafted an ethnobotanical study on seven tribal communities of Sonitpur district. She also played a core role in designing the model village at Baligaon Miri Green Village, and leads the Ghor Bari project in the region.

Gautam Baruah
Rural Futures – Lead

Joanna Dawson
Rural Futures – Anthropological Visioner

Karishma Ahmed
Rural Futures - Communications Architect

Prabir Banerjea
Co-founder & Managing Member, Balipara Foundation

Ranjit Barthakur
Founding Trustee & Chairman, Balipara Foundation.
A social entrepreneur, committed to pursuing social change through innovative cutting edge concepts, ecological neutrality and impactful action, Ranjit has pioneered the concepts of Naturenomics™ Executive and Rural Futures at Balipara Foundation, with a view to inspiring community-based conservation and livelihoods in the Eastern Himalayas. Though his journey began with ITC Mumbai, his heart and soul has always been in Assam. Partnering with Globally Managed Services & the Balipara Foundation, he gives back to the indigenous communities of the Eastern Himalayas via projects focused on strengthening ecological civilizations and building social mobility through natural capital. Under his mentorship as Trustee and President of the Balipara Foundation, the social enterprise, the Eastern Himalayan Botanic Ark in residence at Wild Mahseer, has become a hub for mindful tourism in Balipara County, Assam and has been instrumental in catalyzing the natural history and cultural heritage of the Brahmaputra valley in Assam. As Chairman of FICCI’s North East Advisory Council he has also contributed to the growth and development of the Northeast by facilitating the implementation of Public-Private Partnerships in the health, tourism and connectivity sectors. Through his position as a Senior Advisor-NE programmes with Tata Trusts, he is working to create development impact in areas of health, education & livelihoods. Additionally, he has developed the multi-disciplinary platform, the Eastern Himalayan NNaturenomics™ Executive Forum, to foster global collaborations for conservation actions and solutions in the heart of the Eastern Himalayas. Ranjit is the thought leader behind a series of Naturenomics™ Executive publications dedicated to tackling various pressing ecological and socioeconomic issues with a focus on the Eastern Himalayas. Through the Balipara Foundation, he has also supported the launch of several nature-based publications and a digital application to build a rich repository of knowledge for Rural Futures. Ranjit has served in diverse roles in both the private and public sector, most notably as an advisor to the ex-Chief Minister of Assam. He brings over 40 years of expertise in FMCGs, the hospitality sector, IT, sustainability practices in business and sports to his numerous concerns. He is also the present Chairman and Director of the Indian Premier League team, the Rajasthan Royals, encouraging the role of sports and education for the nation’s development.

Rhea Hussain
Rural Futures- Custodian

Saurav Malhotra
Rural Futures- Co-founder & Designer
