The work undertaken by NCCI brings together farmers, researchers, and conservationists to conserve forested areas in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
Founded by professor and scientist Dr. Ruth DeFries in 2014, Network for Conserving Central India—also known as NCCI—is a network of researchers, NGOs, and managers. Together, they work towards conserving biodiversity, improving livelihoods, and fostering sustainable development in the landscapes of the Central Indian Highlands, spanning Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra, by linking diverse knowledge systems with collaborative action.
Formed as an outcome of the Kanha-Pench Landscape Symposium (KPLS) held in February 2014, NCCI brought together researchers and conservationists at Mocha, in Mandla district in Madhya Pradesh. Today, NCCI continues to hold symposiums and roundtables across the Central Indian landscape in an effort to establish a more direct method for communicating news and resources relevant to management and conservation in the region.
Key Areas of Work
Why We Love NCCI
• Interconnectedness of agriculture, biodiversity, and forests: NCCI fosters the interconnectedness—or, as they call it, Jugalbandi—between people and nature in the Central Indian landscape. While they focus on the broader issues of wildlife conservation and agro-diversity, NCCI believes that the two are deeply intertwined. At NCCI, they explore the duality of people’s livelihoods and ecological integrity in Central India. The idea behind Jugalbandi is to expand conservation efforts beyond a protected area-only approach to neighbouring villages and towns, forests as a whole, and agriculture.
• Community-first approach to conservation: The nexus between livelihoods and conservation is a focal point at NCCI. One of their earliest and ongoing initiatives is a small grants programme designed to strategically catalyse action by scientists, engineers, and practitioners engaged in critical, place-based work, particularly those advancing sustainable development pathways that may not align with conventional large-grant models. For instance, improved millet-based livelihoods can help reduce dependency on forest produce as well as reduce human-wildlife conflict.
• Collaborative action to address region-specific issues: Central India has long been the focus of extensive research on forests and wildlife, particularly tigers. However, much of this work had been fragmented, with limited coordination, knowledge sharing, and collaboration across organisations and disciplines. Recognising this gap, the first Kanha–Pench Landscape Symposium (KPLS) was organised in 2014 by a small group of practitioners and researchers as a platform for dialogue and collaboration. Building on this foundation, the NCCI has continued to address this by intentionally bringing together NGOs, researchers, local communities, and institutions to foster shared learning, coordination, and collective action across the landscape.
How They Work
NCCI's work in numbers
- Roundtables: 5
- Symposiums: 6
- Individual grants / DeFries Bajpai Foundation Fellowship: 27
- Number of NCCI members: 150
Partnerships/Collaborations
- Academic & research institutions: 15
- Conservation NGOs & field organisations: 25
- Government/forest department–linked institutions: 5
Symposiums and roundtables on conservation in Central India
To break down and learn more about the complexity and diversity of Central India, and the challenges confronting the landscape, NCCI organises the Central Indian Landscape Symposium (CILS). The shared goal is to build a healthy and productive ecosystem for people, wildlife, and forests in the region.
NCCI held the Sixth Central Indian Landscape Symposium (CILS6) at Olive Resorts, Sillari Pench, Maharashtra in January 2025. This landmark event marked a decade of collaboration, uniting various stakeholders from the landscape to tackle critical challenges in conserving the Central Indian Highlands.
At the Fifth Central Indian Landscape Symposium in February 2023, participants decided to form a roundtable on agro-biodiversity initiatives around the Kanha Tiger Reserve, focusing on millets, owing to their drought-resistent nature, their nutritional benefits, and the fact that they were already being cultivated in this region. Through the Agrobiodiversity Roundtable, NCCI has incorporated the voices of people of the landscape. The roundtable has now moved beyond discussion and knowledge sharing to action. It includes researchers, practitioners, farmer-producer organisations, leaders of self-help groups, grassroots NGOs, civil society organisations, and government officials.
“What’s been incredible is that we’ve had the chance to create dialogue to find nuance and action, letting these themes eventually emerge from the actors in the landscape. It’s a thread that goes all through NCCI, even the symposium,” says Mansi Monga, Programme Lead—Agriculture and Livelihoods.
Researching millet consumption and food security
Central India has a rich history of millet production. For instance, Mandla district is recognised as the biggest producer of small millets like Kodo and Kutki in India. However, in recent decades, both production and consumption have declined. NCCI identified this decline in millet consumption through data analysis and field work, revealing a strong correlation between loss of nutrients in diets and a shift from millets to rice consumption. They realised that people, especially children, were eating large portions of white rice, which lacks adequate nutrition, raising urgent concerns around food security.
Through the Agrobiodiversity Roundtable, NCCI connects knowledge with action, fostering healthy diets, climate resilience, and dignified livelihoods for farmers. It serves as a platform for sharing information and coordinating efforts among various actors. For instance, the last roundtable, held in Sarhi, Kanha, in March 2025, focused on discussions pertaining to traditional agricultural practices, improved seed diversity, and building a brand representing the landscape with a focus on ensuring sustainable and resilient millet production.
Making academic research more accessible
Through NCCI’s Project Spotlights programme, scientific information about Central India is made more accessible to the public. This is achieved by summarising academic papers and ongoing research on various aspects of Central India, including biodiversity, agriculture, climate change, wildlife, conservation, and the region’s inhabitants. These insights are then shared via their social media channels, their website, or at CILS and the roundtables.
For instance, NCCI recently shared a three-part story on Kodo millet regarding its food safety. The journey of a small grain with a big story, Kodo millet has been cultivated in Central India for centuries. Hardy and water-efficient, it has nourished families in lean years and provided farmers with a resilient crop that supports both household food and additional income. Through this series, NCCI described how contamination of Kodo millet occurs and the ongoing work of farmers, communities, and scientists to address the problem. This is an example of NCCI’s approach to make knowledge accessible and useful to central India.
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