Dakshin Foundation is a not-for-profit, charitable, non-governmental organisation committed to environmental sustainability and social justice.
Our mission is to inform and catalyse conservation and natural resource management, while promoting and supporting sustainable livelihoods, social development and environmental justice. We adopt interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary approaches in our research and interventions, drawing from the fields of ecology, conservation biology, sociology, economics, and law. By strengthening networks at local and national levels and supporting advocacy campaigns, we work to build grassroots’ capacities to secure ecosystems and rights and engage in conservation and environmental decision-making. Our goal is to promote ecologically and socially appropriate approaches to conservation and natural resource management in coastal, marine and mountain ecosystems in India.
Dakshin aims to leverage simultaneous environmental and community-wellbeing benefits through stand-alone and intersectoral interventions. Our approach is based on an integrated philosophy that combines our research expertise from multiple fields to address environmental and livelihood concerns through appropriate models that are flexible across scales and implemented in partnership with local communities, government departments and other civil society organisations.
Our Programmes
Improving governance and management of fisheries by decentralising knowledge to empower stakeholder communities and to ensure their direct involvement in decision-making.
Filling critical gaps in our current knowledge of the oceans through long-term and collaborative monitoring of select ecosystems and marine species.
Supporting a range of research and policy analyses that aim at a critical appraisal of legislations and their implications for specific communities and ecosystems.
Improving the wellbeing of coastal communities while empowering them to build resilient communities and ecosystems.
Addressing contemporary emerging crises such as conflict that can be classified under the label of ‘wicked’, ‘messy’ problems.
Our Field Stations
Blog
As 2025 came to a close, Dakshin Foundation marked key moments for the fisheries sector—World Fisheries Day and the first-ever International Fisher Women’s Day—through conversations, films and reflections rooted in coastal communities. We now share a set of films that spotlight fisherwomen’s leadership, grassroots stewardship and the changing seascapes of…
By Sanjana| “I thought I knew a lot about menstrual cups and cloth pads. But in 2024, when I began working in the Andamans, my Dakshin colleagues shared with me a few things I never knew…Here, I talk about my journey towards beginning to encourage more women to make the…
Dr. Naveen Namboothri and Kumar Sahayaraju from our Sustainable Fisheries Programme represented Dakshin Foundation at the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France. Their participation brought grounded, field-based perspectives from India’s coasts into global conversations shaping the future of ocean governance.
For the past 16 years, Dakshin’s Marine Flagships programme, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and state forest departments, has been tracking India’s sea turtles. The programme’s newly launched report, titled ‘Monitoring sea turtles in India 2008 – 2024’, brings together years of research, offering insights into…
A couple of days after Ajith passed away, a message on the WhatsApp group for his memorial enquired about his cat. But Malli would be fine because she inhabited many homes. Much like his beloved cat, Ajith had many institutional homes, and each one thought he belonged to them. As…
By Namrata Lunia and Anu Priya Babu| To share what we have learnt through our journey, Machi Man—the virtual mascot of Khane Ke Liye Bachao —brings you 9 key learnings from our on-ground work that hold the potential to shape a more sustainable and inclusive future for India’s fisheries and…