Our Projects
Breathing Roots is a grassroots, community-led initiative working at the edge of the Kalindi and Raimangal rivers in Lower Hingalganj, the last inhabited block on the Indo–Bangladesh border. Here, where land meets sea via the largest mangrove delta, the Sundarbans once spanned 102 islands with uninterrupted mangrove cover. Today, mangroves survive in only 48 — the rest replaced by fragile human settlements.
Our work began not with funding, but with necessity. As relief efforts failed to provide lasting solutions, recurring cyclones like Sidr (2007), Aila (2009), Bulbul (2019), Amphan (2020), Yaas (2021) and Remal (2024) kept flooding the same homes, eroding the same embankments, and displacing the same communities again and again.
It was clear: Relief is not a solution. Resilience is.
We chose to plant hope — and mangroves. Since 2020, Breathing Roots has nurtured and planted over 985,000 mangrove saplings, turning weak, crumbling riverbanks into living green walls. These natural defences reduce salinity intrusion, prevent soil erosion, and shield riverine villages from cyclone surges.
Working Areas
Our projects are woven across ecology, culture, and community resilience. Explore the strands below to understand how they come together at the edge of the Sundarbans.
Sustainable Mangrove Plantation Programme
Restoring the fading mangrove shield through community nurseries, women-led seed collection, and a three-year maintenance model that transforms embankments into a 6-kilometre living Green Wall.
- 9.85 lakh saplings nurtured and planted
- 6 km of riverbank protected in Lower Hingalganj
- Extension to Hooghly riverbank near the Indian Botanic Garden
Reviving Traditional Music & Art
Supporting the last living repositories of Bengal’s pre-Partition folk traditions — from Mymensingh ballads to Palkir Gaan and Bhatiali — while linking cultural revival directly with climate action and community education.
- 400+ folk artist families supported
- Endangered art forms documented and performed
- Bon Bibi & Dakshin Ray Festival as a living cultural archive
Sustainable Social Development Programmes
Building long-term resilience in borderland villages through skill training, health camps, emergency response, and cultural solidarity — so that fewer families are forced to migrate away from the delta.
- Skill training in jute craft, tailoring, and upcycled products
- Arts & Common Facility Centre in Kalitala
- Health, veterinary, and emergency relief outreach in riverine hamlets