How we helped the Foundation for Ecological Security scale with government

Restoring millions of acres of India’s shared natural resources and transforming 40 million lives by putting land back in the hands of communities.

Ecological restoration | Conservation | Economic Empowerment | India

Over 350 million rural people in India depend on shared natural resources – pastures, forests, and water bodies – to sustain their livelihoods. But these resources, referred to as the “Commons,” have been degrading over time, leading to poverty, conflict, and environmental degradation.

The Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) has developed a powerful approach to restoring and protecting the Commons by securing community land rights and supporting sustainable land use – unlocking both ecological and economic opportunity for millions of people.

Challenge

From doing the work to enabling government to deliver at scale

FES’ Core Model – its approach to securing, governing and restoring shared land and water resources – had been successful, but with only FES implementing, it was only reaching a fraction of the 350 million rural people who rely on it.

Despite supportive national policies, FES faced two key barriers to scale:

Fragmented implementation as Commons have not been a focus in government programs and government departments work in silos; and
A lack of convergence among key actors and government departments, which is necessary for effective governance and restoration of the Commons.

To scale effectively, FES needed to evolve from direct implementation to catalysing system change – embedding Commons governance into partner and government delivery systems.

IMPACT

4.38 million lives

cumulatively impacted by FES and its government & NGO partners as of 2024/25

2.75 million acres

of shared land brought under community governance in 2024/25

8 state governments

50+ NGOs and 20 networks engaged through strategic partnerships

OUR APPROACH

We worked across three phases to help FES transition to embedding Commons governance into government and other partners’ delivery systems:

Phase 1: Developing a scale strategy and implementation model for Prakriti Karyashala (‘rural colleges’) – hubs for building the skills of communities, partners and government.
Phase 2: Developing a scale strategy and implementation model through NGO partnerships – strengthening partners capacity to enable implementation at scale.
Phase 3: Building Government Capacity – Addressing how FES can strategically strengthen government’s ability to deliver for rural communities at scale

“This collaboration has enabled FES to establish strategic partnerships with several state government entities to scale our work on restoring and governing the Commons.”

— FES

Our process

Together we streamlined processes and evolved the vision, frameworks and systems needed for government to lead securing, governing and restoring Commons at scale.

Building a strategy for government partnerships

We supported FES to evolve their organisation-wide vision and strategic objectives for scaling through government. This involved:

Clarifying the key shifts in roles – with FES moving into the role of facilitator and government functionaries stepping into delivery
Developing a practical tool to help each FES state team craft tailored strategic approaches for partnering with local government

Establishing this shared vision and practical roadmap enabled FES to align internally and engage the government with a clear, consistent strategy from the outset.

Creating design guidance

To help FES strengthen government’s implementation capacity, we developed a four-stage framework to guide the design and delivery of its partnerships with government.

It set out clear rules, recommendations, and common pitfalls, to help implement partnerships effectively across all levels of government.

This framework helped FES ensure that each and every engagement with government partners is seen as an opportunity to enhance government implementation capacity and proactively drive towards FES’ overall strategic objectives.

Making processes replicable & sustainable

To make the approach stick, we co-developed an operations manual for FES teams and partners.

It included practical tools ranging from drafting MOUs to co-designing initiatives and using lean monitoring to stay focused on strategic goals.

Systemising the approach made it replicable across states, strengthened government leadership, and embedded the work into everyday systems.

RESULTS

Embedding in Government Systems
The evolution of FES’s strategic approach to becoming a facilitator (while continuing to implement in some areas) has led to the institutionalisation of their Commons governance model across multiple government layers. Seven state governments have adopted decision-making tools and strengthened data systems for more effective implementation.

Building Government Implementation Capacity
FES collaborated with the government to establish State Programme Management Units in seven states — new platforms where civil society and government jointly shape community-led restoration.

Increasing government ownerships
In 2024–25 alone, 1.65 million Commons acres were brought under community governance through government partnerships and engagement.

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