Thanal

More than three decades ago, in 1986, a small group of nature enthusiasts based in the southern state of Kerala in India were inspired to share their love for nature by helping people to become more environmentally aware and pro-active.

They set up a non-profit, Thanal, to focus on environmental education and natural history studies. Soon they were involved in issues that were impacting their community such as toxics and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

One of the first large campaigns they undertook was against the pesticide, endosulfan. After two decades of extensive use of this pesticide in cashew plantations, there was growing realisation of its connection to disease and deformities in the Kasargod district of the state, affecting over 50,000 villagers. In 1998, Thanal, along with locals, launched a highly vocal and public campaign. The pesticide was eventually banned in the country in 2011 followed by extensive campaigns backed by studies, national level debates and legal interventions that reached the annals of the Supreme Court of India. In response to the pesticide campaign, Thanal forwarded the idea of safe food through organic farming. From 2002, they began working with farmers, especially women farmers, to promote safe food and food sovereignty. In 2003, they launched ‘Organic Bazaar’, a farmers’ market in Thiruvananthapuram, to accelerate the movement of organic farming and agro-biodiversity programmes.