Academy for Mountain Environics

The Academy for Mountain Environics, the research arm of the BCIL, was founded over a decade ago with the basic objective of guiding people on simple, user-friendly systems for harnessing energy and water. The focus is on maintaining the tenuous harmony between the 5 ja's that bind the planet -- jan (people), jal (water) jameen (land), jungle (forests) and janwar (fauna). With projects in districts of Uttaranchal and Madhya Pradesh, the Academy consists of professionals who have come together from diverse fields. Some are geologists and geophysicists. Others are vernacular architects, water managers, explorers, trek escorts, camp organisers. Yet others are botanists, species enumerators and even young farmers who seek to put their experience to good use.

The Academy has chosen to carry out a major part of its work in the mountains since these remain the only repositories of culture and biodiversity that have not yet been ravaged by development.