This Couple Has Regrown an Entire Rainforest!

[Carmen Elsa Irarragorri Wyland]

Anil Malhotra and his wife, Pamela Gale Malhotra, own Sai Sanctuary, India’s only private wildlife sanctuary. They’ve been replanting forests and protecting wildlife since its foundation in 1991. As of today, Sai Sanctuary covers more than 300 acres of wildlife, and is home to over 200 globally endangered species of flora and fauna. This includes Bengal tigers and Asian elephants.

Kodagu, the Indian district where the sanctuary is located, has experienced a huge decrease in forest cover – from around 86% in the 1970s to just 16% today. Pamela says that this has created disastrous effects on the water supply and rainfall patterns, not just within the sanctuary itself, but throughout most of southern India. In a sense, the couple are rebuilding the environment by making sure that the forests can provide the animals with shelter, and in turn, the animals will keep the forests healthy.

Explore this couple's rainforest in the bonus video below. 

 

South India's Kodagu district is suffering from extreme deforestation.

But Anil Malhotra and his wife, Pamela Gale Malhotra, decided to act.

So they co-founded the Sai Sanctuary in 1991. 

Over the past 26 years, they've been replanting trees and expanding the sanctuary.

The sanctuary is home to over 200 globally endangered species.

Most of the lands that they bought were completely abandoned.

These included rice, coffee, and cardamom fields.

It took a great deal of time, care, and energy to bring it back to life.

In the beginning, when walking through the forest, you wouldn't hear a sound.

But now, the rainforest is alive with sound.

Pamela's wish is that the forest continues to be protected and expanded.

They both say that this project has brought them unbridled satisfaction.