Local Roots, Lasting Impact

The Quiet Work of Lasting Change

We fund grassroots efforts led by the people closest to the problem: conservationists, teachers, farmers, and community leaders across South and Southeast Asia.

From wildlife conservation to keeping children in school to building sustainable livelihoods, the work is already underway. Our job is to fund it.

  • Community members gathered at a Matsya-supported project site
  • Volunteers and schoolchildren forming heart shapes with their hands
  • Field team at work in a forested project area
  • Local partners meeting with community leaders
  • Students in a classroom during a climate literacy session
  • Conservation staff surveying a project landscape
  • Two members of the field team travelling upriver by boat on a survey
  • Project participants outdoors during a field programme
  • Forest guards and community volunteers assembled together

Why We Do This?

  • ~$50KRaised across our projects
  • 6Projects currently in progress
  • 2Countries: India and Cambodia

Across South and Southeast Asia, local NGOs, indigenous communities and village leaders are already protecting the environment and breaking the cycles of poverty.

Their work goes unseen and underfunded while large institutions take the lion's share of global aid. The people closest to the problem should be at the front of the change.

That's why we focus on both quality and quantity. We fund many high-impact, low-cost projects that need only modest funding to succeed, and by backing the people who live with these challenges daily we unlock local knowledge and build a more just future from the ground up.

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Our Focus Areas

Poverty Alleviation

We uplift vulnerable communities through focused support for childhood poverty, rural livelihoods, and intergenerational opportunity. By addressing the roots of economic hardship, we help families not just survive but thrive, with access to essentials, education, and tools for lasting self-sufficiency.

Children in school uniforms smiling together outside a classroom

Environmental Regeneration

We aid in restoring the balance between people and nature through biodiversity conservation, habitat protection, and wildlife conservation. We help regenerate ecosystems, safeguard the species that depend on them, and restore landscapes alongside the communities who share them.

A regenerating forest landscape in South Asia

Sustainable Livelihoods

Sustainable livelihoods are the foundation for resilient communities and thriving ecosystems. We empower people with the knowledge, resources, and opportunities to build secure futures while protecting the natural environments they depend on.

Farmland worked using regenerative agricultural practices

Our Focus Areas

Featured Projects

A slender-billed vulture perched on a bare branch against a clear blue sky

Safeguarding Assam's Vultures

Kamrup District, Assam, IndiaOngoing

Assam holds some of India's last vultures. Poisoned carcasses kill them in groups, so we work on trust, safe carcass management and a local conservation network.

Environmental Regeneration

A spotted owlet peering from a tree hollow in the Dang forests, Gujarat

Protecting the Forest Owlet

Dang District, Gujarat, IndiaOngoing

One of the rarest birds in the world, with fewer than 1,000 left, and southern Gujarat's forests hold a critical population.

Environmental Regeneration

View all Projects

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Two greater one-horned rhinos touching noses in Kaziranga, AssamJoin the newsletter

Read Our Blogs

Articles and reports about the people and places at the heart of conservation, sustainable land use, climate literacy, and childhood poverty reduction.

A South Asian landscape featured in our writingRead latest blog

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Support community-led projects that restore ecosystems, empower youth, and protect South Asia's living heritage.

Community members at a supported projectDonate now