A Brief History:
Federation of Societies for Environmental Protection (FOSEP) primarily seeks to address the challenges of biodiversity conservation in the fragile ecosystems of the Darjeeling Hills in the Eastern Himalayas & Kanchandzonga Landscape, home to some of the globally threatened endemic species of plants, animals, insect species & avifauna.
The rapidly growing population demands equally fast economic growth & industrialization which in turn puts an increasing pressure on the limited forest resources. Vulnerable mountain communities depend entirely on the naturally available bio-resources for their sustenance.
FOSEP actively supports local communities and spreads awareness about the need to preserve our precious mountain eco-systems & natural resources for our future generations. FOSEP works towards improving the socio-economic conditions of the vulnerable mountain communities living in remote inaccessible regions of the high hills & mountains of Darjeeling & surrounding areas.
The Federation of Societies for Environmental Protection (FOSEP) was established in 1989 by a group of dedicated and committed volunteer-citizens to take up the common cause of the mountain communities of the region & to improve the quality of lives by facilitating people self-help initiatives.
FOSEP has been actively supporting more than 143 village community welfare organizations & societies helping them generate sustainable livelihood options like mushroom cultivation, bee-keeping & plantation of various fruit bearing trees like apples, pears & peaches in the remotest hilly villages in the mountainous terrains of the Darjeeling region.
FOSEP has been appointed Regional Resource Agency (RRA) by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India, for its flagship Environment Awareness program National Environment Awareness Campaign (NEAC) in the Darjeeling Hills & Siliguri in the state of West Bengal.
FOSEP has also received the most prestigious Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra (IPVM) Award by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, New Delhi
and the Aniruddha Bargava Environment Award from INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) in 2007 and 2011 respectively.