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Located on an earlier site chosen by the Mother for Auroville - a 70 acre area of land west of the Pondicherry- Tindivanam road - Sadhana Forest, although named as such, is not yet a fully-fledged forest, though it is on the way to becoming one.
Although the land has been Auroville's throughout most of Auroville's history, it was only when Israeli-born Aurovilians Aviram and his wife Yorit were given stewardship and settled there with their daughter in December 2003 that things really started happening, though there had been a tree planting programme earlier on parts of the land.
Before coming to India, Aviram had been a psychologist and university lecturer in a town near Tel Aviv, and later managed a medical device company, regularly flying back and forth to the USA on business. One day he decided that what he was doing, although financially rewarding, was not helping to create a better world. He decided there and then to make a radical change to his lifestyle, and pursue a much purer and healthier new life which could also benefit the environment and the wider world around him. A few years later an encounter with the teachings of the Mother & Sri Aurobindo gave him the inspiration and sense of direction to start Sadhana Forest.
 When Aviram & Yorit first settled on the land they started with only a single small hut. Today, in addition to their family hut and a communal building, there is also accommodation for up to 70 volunteer workers. These people come to Sadhana Forest from many nations, mostly via a global network listing voluntary opportunities for organic farming worldwide. The minimum stay is 2 weeks, though most stay longer - digging, planting, compost making, watering and mulching, working on water and soil conservation projects, helping with cooking and cleaning, doing construction work, etc (there is no hired labour). Meanwhile, they live a simple and environmentally-sustainable life, which includes eating only vegan food inside Sadhana Forest (no meat, fish, eggs, milk or dairy products), and no use of alcohol or other stimulants.
In exchange for 4 hours of expected work daily, the
volunteers get free accommodation and use of bicycles. There is a phone, and access to solar power for charging
batteries for torches, cameras, laptops, etc, but there is no
mains electricity, lighting for the communal building being
solar powered. Water for domestic purposes is pumped by
hand from a well in the residential area, so wastage is minimal.
Three healthy vegan meals a day are organized by the
volunteers, who contribute Rs.80 (approx 2 US$) per day
per person to buy the food.
At the end of their usually hot & dusty - sometimes
muddy - day, there is a small 3,000 litre "swimming pool" to
enjoy (not actually big enough to swim in, but nice for cooling
off), much camaraderie and sharing of knowledge, selfentertainment
in the form of instrumental music and song,
and access to a communal library and free e-mail facility.
Meanwhile the volunteers also get the opportunity to learn
about, be involved in, and contribute to Auroville by way of
living a "higher and truer life" on site.
When Sadhana Forest was first started Aurovilians
doubted it would attract more than 4 or 5 people at a time,
but the first year they had 15 people staying there, the second
year 30, the following year over 70. As at today's date they
have hosted around 900 people, more than 320 in the past
year. This is very encouraging, but such exponential growth
in numbers is a source of concern for the future, as the
infrastructure for continued expansion has yet to be built,
and funds are lacking.
 Noting the history of the area, an early question for
Aviram and his family was how they could best benefit the
local population, while also contributing to the aims of
Auroville and benefitting humanity as a whole? In assessing
today's global situation and the needs of all concerned, they
decided that re-establishing the original tropical dry
evergreen forest (TDEF) - which had been cut down from
around the time of the colonial era - had to be a top priority.
Of special significance they decided from the outset that the
forest area should be unfenced and open to everybody to
visit, and that for this it was essential to develop a cooperative
relationship with the local villagers. They explained to them
what their vision was, what they planned to
do, how it would benefit them, asked them
not to cut trees, bring in grazing animals or
mine soil or pebbles, and got amazing results.
As Aviram puts it, "It has worked better than
we could ever have imagined. The amount of
grazing by cows and goats is close to zero;
tree-cutting likewise; and pebble mining has
stopped completely. There is full cooperation
with the local Panchayat and villagers, many
of whom are planting trees with us, specially
the children. We keep them fully informed of
every action we take, explaining why we are
taking each step, working out with them road
and access needs plus their firewood needs,
and looking for sustainable ways to address them. It's a
pleasure to work with these people, they are so cooperative."
A special characteristic of Sadhana Forest is existence
there of a sacred grove containing original TDEF species.
Through environmentally sustainable and conscious
reforestation practices, work is being done to expand this
area and restore the indigenous growth, while at the same
time replacing earlier-planted exotic species with TDEF
species. Since starting the project, today over 14,000 trees
have been planted, the majority of which have survived and
are showing steady growth. Meanwhile, free educational
workshops are being run with the purpose of informing
people about the history of the land and its devastation, and
the ecological steps being taken to revegetate and restore it.
Emphasis is placed on water conservation, soil erosion
control, waste minimization, and use of renewable energy
techniques, all within a sustainable and economically-viable
framework. Although the area of land replanted with TDEF
species so far is still around 30%, and large areas have yet
to be planted, results are highly encouraging.
 Because Sadhana Forest lies on a watershed of red earth
and clay in which ravines and canyons can easily be formed
by heavy rains, a major problem is water-flow control and
conservation. The aim is to achieve zero run-off, by stopping
soil erosion with check dams, bunding (over 4 kms to date),re-contouring, and directing of remaining run-off to areas
of forest where absorbancy is high. The whole process of
creating the forest will probably take 20-30 years, so for
Aviram and his family it is a life commitment.
One of the radical differences between Sadhana Forest
and typical organic farms is the non-use of animal waste for
composting. Instead they use three alternative materials -
human manure and biomass/leaves for tree planting, and
kitchen waste for an organic vegetable garden and fruit
orchard. This way they get several tons of composting
material a year without involving cows or other animals.
When planting trees, which is done mostly in the main
monsoon season, absorbent coconut husks are used in the
bottom of each tree pit to hold water, and sometimes an
inverted (waste) plastic water bottle with bottom cut off is
set close to the tree to feed water direct to the roots. Every
tree planted is also mulched, and remulched as and when
needed. Once planted, most saplings need only occasional
watering. This is mostly done via 180 metres of hosepipe
from a 2,000 litre overhead tank, which is also used for
watering the community's fully-organic and steadily-growing
vegetable garden and a number of fruit trees. Survival rate
for the trees is high, around 70%.
 So, what have been the results to date? In addition to
the planting of 14,000 trees towards the establishment of a
renewed forest area to help offset global warming, the
bunding and contouring of the land, the very positive and
constructive relationship developed with the local people,
the most outstanding transformation has been the dramatic
improvement in the local water table, which at a time when
levels are falling throughout the Auroville area has seen a 6-
metre rise since Nov 2003! Whereas before, water lay in
the domestic borewell at a depth of over 26ft, today it is just
6ft below ground level, and rises in places to just 2ft during
the rainy season. The main secret of this achievement lies in
how they have maximised their harvesting of rainwater while
minimising use and wastage. Overall consumption is only 50 litres per person per day for drinking, washing, laundry,
cooking & cleaning, which is around a third of the amount
people use in cities, and much of that water is recycled via a
reedbed purification plant for further use on the land.
Another transformation has been the attraction of large
numbers of birds and other forms of wildlife, such as jackals.
Aviram and Yorit are constantly assessing the impact of
their every action, seeing it as a learning process. Today, wiser for their experience, they could easily become
environmental gurus, lecturing people on how they should
live, but this they consciously avoid, believing instead that
teaching by example is a better approach. In fact they never
initiate talk about the place, about veganism, about Mother
& Sri Aurobindo, etc, and discipline themselves to only
answer questions raised. Meanwhile, the feedback they get
from volunteers, visitors and the surrounding area is very
encouraging, far exceeding their original expectations.
Sadhana Forest is undoubtedly an example of how
humanity can live a more sustainable lifestyle, and the world
desperately needs such research. Auroville can be proud of
the work being done there.
For more info e-mail sadhanaforest@auroville.org.in
Sadhana Forest Community
Overview of Sadhana Forest Philosophy
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Auroville Community
Panoramas of Auroville
The Birth of Auroville
Charter of Auroville w/ Sraddhalu
Integral Yoga
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