Palluyir means ‘biodiversity’ or ‘all of life’ in Tamil. 

A word about 2000 years old, mentioned in the 322nd couplet of the Thirukkural, written by the South Indian poet and mystic Thiruvalluvar. The couplet (translated) means – “to share/coexist and protect biodiversity is the essence of all our hoarded wisdom.”

Palluyir Trust for Nature Education and Research was registered in 2021 and is based in Chennai. Our goal is to create diverse nature-education resources, curricula and interfaces; work with children and public across ages and social backgrounds. We hope to and strive to make the joy and relevance of nature-based, place-based and outdoor learning accessible to ‘everybody’. We center local nature and biodiversity in our process of reimagining learning and living together.

Beyond education, we also work actively with ecological advocacy and documentation in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. We give solidarity to environmental campaigns, conservation work, socio-ecological battles happening on the ground to protect living landscapes and peoples.

Read more about us here, and about our work here