Ashok Kumar

For Ashok, the eldest member of his family is not a person but a Khejri tree. Growing up in the Bishnoi tradition of the Thar desert, he learned the story of Amrita Devi, who in 1730 hugged a Khejri tree to stop the king's soldiers from cutting it down. That day, 363 Bishnois gave their lives to protect the trees. Since childhood, Ashok has seen how the Khejri sustains life in the desert: its shade shelters people, its leaves feed livestock, it holds the soil together, and it is home to countless birds and other creatures. Today, climate change and changing land use are putting these trees, and the life connected to them, at risk.

Through his Champions project, Ashok will work with his family network and local organisations to record Bishnoi traditional ecological knowledge about native trees through oral histories. The project will also strengthen community-led care of these trees through local institutions. Working with farmers, it aims to bring at least 150 farms into native tree-based dryland farming, keeping and regenerating Khejri, Rohida and Ker trees on productive land to improve fodder security, soil stability and biodiversity. Through films, dialogue circles and digital storytelling, Ashok will share these lessons with rural and urban audiences. He will highlight the risks of hybrid and non-native species and show how native trees make farms more resilient and secure farmers' incomes.