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VISION
 
The core of the Anant Van project is our effort to restore the forests around Bandhavgarh. That’s why we chose a piece of land that had been painfully denuded by deforestation and overgrazing.
 
Our home lies on 21 acres of an unused farm in Village Mardari, on the outer edge of the park. In quiet, hidden nooks across the land, you already find wilderness stealthily asserting itself, through small pockets of indigenous trees, creepers, and shrubs. On the whole, though, it’s open land.
 
What may have looked like scrubland to untrained eyes was a treasure-house of possibilities to Pradip Krishen, India’s best-known tree man. He encouraged us to put together a small team: a local forest expert, a gardener and Nishikant Jadhav, a senior retired forester who has come to be our guru in all things tree-related.
 
We know our future likes in the woods. Anant Van takes its name from this recognition, in fact, meaning at once Endless Forest and Forest of the Endless. Our dream is that, like its name, the project too will harmonize our environmental goals and the spiritual awareness that creates them.
 
 
 
 
 
THE NURSERY OF INDIGENOUS PLANTS
 
Nursery of indigenous plants: Along with the botanical garden, Anant Van will also house a nursery of rare indigenous plants and trees from central India. In keeping with the community-based spirit of our whole project, the nursery will enable villagers from around the park to grow environmentally viable and economically beneficial plants, which generate livelihoods even as they sustain life
 
PRADIP’S FIRST LIST OF PLANTS (01/06/2006)
 
 
 
BOTANICAL GARDEN
 
Anant Van will include an interactive botanical garden for visitors to Bandhavgarh. People here to see the national park will be invited to take a closer look into the forest world that sustains not just many bird and animal species but also a thriving community of human beings. The botanical garden will raise awareness about wildlife and nature, teaching visitors about the delicate ecosystems they are encountering.