Sadhana Forest Meghalaya began in 2020 with a mobile natural resource management project, using two upcycled buses transformed into simple living and training spaces. The team travelled across rural Meghalaya, working closely with local communities to share practical techniques for soil and water conservation, reforestation, and degraded land restoration. Over two years, this mobile project reached 25 villages and trained people connected to 400 villages, laying the foundation for three permanent Immersion Centers in Garo, Khasi, and Jaintia Hills.

Today, these Immersion Centers serve as local learning spaces and demonstration sites for community-led land restoration. Each center offers hands-on, experiential training in techniques that reduce rainwater runoff, minimize erosion, recharge aquifers, increase soil moisture, and support tree planting and natural regeneration. The methods include on-contour swales, half-moon trenches, gabions, earth dams, nursery management, and the planting of indigenous food-producing trees.

All training is offered free of charge. Participants learn by doing: marking contours, digging swales, building bunds, preparing soil, planting trees, and caring for restored landscapes. Workshops are held at the centers, in schools, with community groups, with government functionaries, and directly on people’s land, making the knowledge practical, accessible, and easy to replicate.

The purpose of the Immersion Centers is to offer a hopeful, long-term model for people who wish to remain in their homeland and regenerate it. By building local skills, supporting community participation, and adapting techniques to the needs of each landscape, Sadhana Forest helps communities strengthen water and food security, reduce distress migration, and live well on their land in a healthy, productive natural environment.