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Where Lantana camara has silenced the forest, we return light, grass, and life

Where lantana has silenced the forest,

we return light, grass, and life

From the world’s worst invasive flora
choking South India’s forests to
biochar for habitat restoration

Turning the world’s worst invasive flora choking South India’s forests into biochar for habitat restoration

Turning the world’s worst invasive flora
choking South India’s forests into biochar for habitat restoration

We remove Lantana at landscape-scale across the UNESCO Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, convert the biomass into stable, soil-grade biochar through state of the art pyrolysis.


With indigenous forest stewards leading the way, we sequester durable carbon, restore native grassy understory, and reopen wildlife migration corridors.

BuyBuy carboncarbon certificatescertificates
BuyBuy carboncarbon certificatescertificates

One tonne of biochar holds roughly 1.8 tonnes of CO₂ in Nilgiri soil for centuries

BuyBuy carboncarbon certificatescertificates
BuyBuy carboncarbon certificatescertificates

One tonne of biochar holds roughly 1.8 tonnes of CO₂ in Nilgiri soil for centuries

Impact you can verify in person

20+ years in conservation and community

Mapped, monitored, restored, and measured down to the last hectare

250+ hectares

restored through lantana removal

Tested over five years with indigenous communities, our ecologically appropriate machinery reduces drudgery and changes the face of conservation funding. Guided by traditional ecological knowledge, drones, bioacoustics, AI, and machine learning - we restore the forest's grassy understory.

Tested over five years with indigenous communities, our ecologically appropriate machinery reduces drudgery and changes the face of conservation funding. Guided by traditional ecological knowledge, drones, bioacoustics, AI, and machine learning - we restore the forest's grassy understory.

300+

indigenous livelihoods created

The Soliga, Bettakurumba, Irula, Kattunayakan, and Paniya communities are co-creators of a self-financing, regenerative conservation economy through place-based skilled work, collective ownership, and long-term habitat preservation. From being marginalized at the forest fringes to reclaiming their traditional relationship as forest stewards.

The Soliga, Bettakurumba, Irula, Kattunayakan, and Paniya communities are co-creators of a self-financing, regenerative conservation economy through place-based skilled work, collective ownership, and long-term habitat preservation. From being marginalized at the forest fringes to reclaiming their traditional relationship as forest stewards.

40,000 tCO2e

certified, durable carbon sequestration by 2030

We convert harvested invasive biomass into biochar using low-emissions pyrolysis monitored by real-time IoT data. Yielding 1.8 tCO2e per tonne, each batch produces durable carbon credits and premium biochar for tea and coffee estates. Carbon certificate revenues fund ongoing forest restoration.

We convert harvested invasive biomass into biochar using low-emissions pyrolysis monitored by real-time IoT data. Yielding 1.8 tCO2e per tonne, each batch produces durable carbon credits and premium biochar for tea and coffee estates. Carbon certificate revenues fund ongoing forest restoration.

3 million+

grass slips produced annually

We run one of India’s largest native grass nurseries in partnership with The Shola Trust and leading botanists at the Trans Disciplinary University. By replanting over 30 indigenous species, we actively restore the palatable understory forage that elephants and large herbivores depend on.

We run one of India’s largest native grass nurseries in partnership with The Shola Trust and leading botanists at the Trans Disciplinary University. By replanting over 30 indigenous species, we actively restore the palatable understory forage that elephants and large herbivores depend on.

The problem we inherited

Maybe the elephant is in the village because the forest is invaded by thorns.

Lantana is thorny, toxic, and impenetrable. A full-grown elephant cannot push through it. It poisons the soil. Native grasses cannot regrow.


Traditional removal methods fail. Stems resprout within months. The understory grassy layer, that feeds elephants, gaur and deer, simply stops existing. The animals are forced to leave the forest and raid the farms and villages.


The people who have lived beside these forests and co-existed with these animals for generations pay for it.

Lantana is thorny, toxic, and impenetrable. A full-grown elephant cannot push through it. It poisons the soil. Native grasses cannot regrow.


Traditional removal methods fail. Stems resprout within months. The understory grassy layer, that feeds elephants, gaur and deer, simply stops existing. The animals are forced to leave the forest and raid the farms and villages.


The people who have lived beside these forests and co-existed with these animals for generations pay for it.

Lantana blankets a forest expanse 380x the size of NYC

Lantana blankets a forest expanse 380x the size of NYC

a single Lantana plant can produce 12000 seeds per plant

a single Lantana plant can produce 12000 seeds per plant

100+ years of unsuccessful removal attempts

100+ years of unsuccessful removal attempts

costs up to $1,500 a hectare to clear it manually

costs up to $1,500 a hectare to clear it manually

We go beyond carbon

A proven, circular restoration model that funds itself

Carbon finance funds habitat restoration, indigenous community-owned enterprise, and soil health

Lantana removal & habitat restoration

With every cut, lantana can grow back 6 times as fast. To ensure the ground layer closes over and the lantana has nowhere left to regrow, we spent a decade figuring out how to remove it at scale with minimal soil disturbance. Removal is followed by restoration, so we replant the forests with 30+ indigenous grass species raised in our native nursery to welcome back wildlife.

Indigenous communities & sustainable livelihoods

Rooted in these ancient forests for generations, local indigenous communities guide conservation and restoration across their ancestral lands. Each Harvesting Unit (HU) is run by a self-help group of 14 community members, paid transparently by biomass harvested, for 200–250 days a year. Average earnings can be double those of the casual labour traditionally on offer. WildCarbon is part-owned by an indigenous community association to preserve our mission-led orientation.

Certified & durable carbon removal

Cut lantana regrows vigorously and releases GHGs while decomposing. Through pyrolysis, it becomes a stable solid, biochar, that stays in soils for centuries. We signed our first carbon credit pre-sale MoU with Coexistence Story, New York for premium carbon removal pricing. We monitor carbon removal pathways using Takachar pyrolysis, digital MRV, and biochar testing. Each tonne of biochar is expected to sequester approximately 1.8 tCO2e.

Agricultural & soil health

Biochar is sold to local tea and coffee estates in the Niligiris as a soil amendment. This improves organic carbon in regional agricultural soil, moisture retention and crop yield - while cutting fertilizer use, run-off, and downstream eutrophication.

Lantana removal & habitat restoration

With every cut, lantana can grow back 6 times as fast. To ensure the ground layer closes over and the lantana has nowhere left to regrow, we spent a decade figuring out how to remove it at scale with minimal soil disturbance. Removal is followed by restoration, so we replant the forests with 30+ indigenous grass species raised in our native nursery to welcome back wildlife.

Indigenous communities & sustainable livelihoods

Rooted in these ancient forests for generations, local indigenous communities guide conservation and restoration across their ancestral lands. Each Harvesting Unit (HU) is run by a self-help group of 14 community members, paid transparently by biomass harvested, for 200–250 days a year. Average earnings can be double those of the casual labour traditionally on offer. WildCarbon is part-owned by an indigenous community association to preserve our mission-led orientation.

Certified & durable carbon removal

Cut lantana regrows vigorously and releases GHGs while decomposing. Through pyrolysis, it becomes a stable solid, biochar, that stays in soils for centuries. We signed our first carbon credit pre-sale MoU with Coexistence Story, New York for premium carbon removal pricing. We monitor carbon removal pathways using Takachar pyrolysis, digital MRV, and biochar testing. Each tonne of biochar is expected to sequester approximately 1.8 tCO2e.

Agricultural & soil health

Biochar is sold to local tea and coffee estates in the Niligiris as a soil amendment. This improves organic carbon in regional agricultural soil, moisture retention and crop yield - while cutting fertilizer use, run-off, and downstream eutrophication.

Lantana removal & habitat restoration

With every cut, lantana can grow back 6 times as fast. To ensure the ground layer closes over and the lantana has nowhere left to regrow, we spent a decade figuring out how to remove it at scale with minimal soil disturbance. Removal is followed by restoration, so we replant the forests with 30+ indigenous grass species raised in our native nursery to welcome back wildlife.

Indigenous communities & sustainable livelihoods

Rooted in these ancient forests for generations, local indigenous communities guide conservation and restoration across their ancestral lands. Each Harvesting Unit (HU) is run by a self-help group of 14 community members, paid transparently by biomass harvested, for 200–250 days a year. Average earnings can be double those of the casual labour traditionally on offer. WildCarbon is part-owned by an indigenous community association to preserve our mission-led orientation.

Certified & durable carbon removal

Cut lantana regrows vigorously and releases GHGs while decomposing. Through pyrolysis, it becomes a stable solid, biochar, that stays in soils for centuries. We signed our first carbon credit pre-sale MoU with Coexistence Story, New York for premium carbon removal pricing. We monitor carbon removal pathways using Takachar pyrolysis, digital MRV, and biochar testing. Each tonne of biochar is expected to sequester approximately 1.8 tCO2e.

Agricultural & soil health

Biochar is sold to local tea and coffee estates in the Niligiris as a soil amendment. This improves organic carbon in regional agricultural soil, moisture retention and crop yield - while cutting fertilizer use, run-off, and downstream eutrophication.

Follow a single tonne of Lantana

From a thicket in Bandipur to a tea estate in the Nilgiris

Clearing lantana manually costs up to $1,500 a hectare. We built an innovative closed loop system that earns it back.

Step 1

Harvest and shred

Shredded biomass leaves the forest and arrives at our Begur facility. It arrives at roughly 50% moisture and is dried to be below 20% - the optimal moisture level to make high quality biochar.

Shredded biomass leaves the forest and arrives at our Begur facility. It arrives at roughly 50% moisture and is dried to be below 20% - the optimal moisture level to make high quality biochar.

Step 2

Transport and dry

The shredded biomass leaves the forest and arrives at our Begur facility. It arrives at roughly 50% moisture and is dried to be below 20% - the optimal moisture level to make high quality biochar.

The shredded biomass leaves the forest and arrives at our Begur facility. It arrives at roughly 50% moisture and is dried to be below 20% - the optimal moisture level to make high quality biochar.

Step 3

Pyrolyse and monitor

Dried feedstock enters Takachar pyrolysis units. Takachar's pyrolysis technology converts valueless invasive biomass into invaluable stable carbon in the form of biochar. Production data, feedstock records and biochar testing are captured at the reactor, feeding a real-time digital MRV trail.

Dried feedstock enters Takachar pyrolysis units. Takachar's pyrolysis technology converts valueless invasive biomass into invaluable stable carbon in the form of biochar. Production data, feedstock records and biochar testing are captured at the reactor, feeding a real-time digital MRV trail.

Step 4

Bury and enhance

Biochar returns to farmlands and tea and coffee estates in the Nilgiris as a soil amendment. As a healthy alternative to fertilizer use, it improves moisture retention, long-term soil fertility and keeps carbon locked in the ground for centuries.

Biochar returns to farmlands and tea and coffee estates in the Nilgiris as a soil amendment. As a healthy alternative to fertilizer use, it improves moisture retention, long-term soil fertility and keeps carbon locked in the ground for centuries.

Step 5

Restore and revive

Freshly opened ground is a magnet to invasives. So native grasses and understory seedlings from our nursery go back into the cleared ground. Drone imagery maps the recovery. Acoustic sensors listen for the birds, mammals and primates returning. Teams evaluate and re-clear for three to five years. This continues, until native vegetation closes the floor and Lantana has nowhere left to go.

Freshly opened ground is a magnet to invasives. So native grasses and understory seedlings from our nursery go back into the cleared ground. Drone imagery maps the recovery. Acoustic sensors listen for the birds, mammals and primates returning. Teams evaluate and re-clear for three to five years. This continues, until native vegetation closes the floor and Lantana has nowhere left to go.

Fund habitat restoration

Durable carbon removal.
Fully Traceable.

When you buy one tonne of biochar, you’ll know the forest plot its feedstock was cut from, the indigenous communities who harvested it, the farm estates that used it and finally, the grass that replaced it.

BuyBuy carboncarbon certificatescertificates
BuyBuy carboncarbon certificatescertificates

Two decades of conservation legacy by our sister organizations

Wild Carbon is the next chapter, scaling habitat restoration

MeetMeet thethe TeamTeam

Building on the foundational research of The Shola Trust and the community harvesting model of The Real Elephant Collective, WildCarbon uses carbon finance as the vector to scale invasive removal and habitat restoration across South India's UNESCO Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.

Frequently asked questions

Clarity on WildCarbon’s science, scale, and heritage

Everything you need to know (hopefully)

Wait, what are the Lantana Elephants?

Can I meet your team on the ground?

Never heard of Lantana camara. Is it really that big a problem?

Pyrolysis facilities are notable for failures. How do you guard against technical failures?

Every developer mentions they remove invasives. Why are you different?

What if your MoUs get cancelled and you are kicked out of the forest?

Won't farmers just expect biochar for free?

What carbon certification do you have?

How do you justify a premium price for your carbon certificates ?

WildCarbon

AAbboouutt
CCoonnttaacctt

info@wildcarbon.eco

+91 7598938326

Begur, Chamrajnagar, Karnataka

WildCarbon

AAbboouutt
CCoonnttaacctt

info@wildcarbon.eco

+91 7598938326

Begur, Chamrajnagar, Karnataka

WildCarbon

AAbboouutt
CCoonnttaacctt

info@wildcarbon.eco

+91 7598938326

Begur, Chamrajnagar, Karnataka

WildCarbon

AAbboouutt
CCoonnttaacctt

info@wildcarbon.eco

+91 7598938326

Begur, Chamrajnagar, Karnataka

WildCarbon

AAbboouutt
CCoonnttaacctt

info@wildcarbon.eco

+91 7598938326

Begur, Chamrajnagar, Karnataka