Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR)

Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) is a non-profit working with rural communities across India for three decades, focused on rejuvenating degraded ecosystems and building climate resilience. WOTR takes a holistic, ecosystem based approach to rural poverty, mobilising communities to manage the land, water, and forests around them, and combining this with agriculture, livelihoods, women's empowerment, and health interventions. Its Ecosystem based Adaptation (EbA) approach aligns with international frameworks including the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. WOTR operates through offices in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Karnataka, with a team of over 300 professionals.

Major Areas of Work

• Water and Land Management: Participatory watershed development to restore degraded land and improve water availability.
• Agriculture: Climate resilient farming practices and farmer focused advisory services.
• Livelihoods: Diversifying rural income sources beyond agriculture.
• Women Empowerment: Community based programmes building women's leadership and economic participation.
• Health, Sanitation and Nutrition: Community health interventions integrated with broader ecosystem work.

Major Initiatives and Programmes

• Ecosystem based Adaptation (EbA): WOTR's core integrated approach combining watershed restoration, agriculture, and community resilience to help rural areas adapt to climate change.
• WOTR Centre for Resilience Studies (W-CReS): A trans-disciplinary applied research unit producing evidence based lessons that link practice to policy.
• ECOBARI: An initiative under WOTR's broader ecosystem restoration work.
• Farmer-friendly Agro-meteorology Advisories: Weather based, farm specific advisories developed using WOTR's own technological tools.
• Training and Capacity Building: Advisory services and training programmes, including international consultancies delivered in countries such as Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Impact

WOTR has worked with rural communities in India for three decades, reaching over 6.93 million people across 7,124 villages in 10 Indian states, including Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, and Karnataka. It has also included participants from 63 countries in its training and exposure programmes, and has developed 24 technological tools supported by customised software for project implementation.

Leadership

• Prakash Keskar, Executive Director, WOTR
• Dr. Marcella D'Souza, Director, WOTR Centre for Resilience Studies (W-CReS)
• Sandeep Jadhav, Director, WOTR
• Harish Daware, Deputy Director, WOTR

Partners

HDFC Parivartan, Axis Bank Foundation, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Credit Suisse, Standard Chartered, NatWest Group, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Wells Fargo, Godrej, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, Mahindra, Bosch, Accenture, Honeywell, John Deere, Azim Premji Foundation, ICICI Foundation, HUL Foundation, GIZ, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Wageningen University & Research

WOTR suits people who want deep, field based work on climate resilience and rural development, backed by three decades of grassroots and research credibility. The organisation offers exposure to a wide network of government, corporate, and academic partners, along with its own applied research centre and proprietary field tools. It appeals to people who want long-term, measurable impact on rural poverty and ecosystem restoration, working alongside one of India's most established names in participatory watershed development.