Kodaikanal's biodiversity is key to climate, agriculture and water security in the Western Ghats and beyond. The KIS vision is to be “a school the world needs”—nurturing transformative leaders and caring humans who build a just, sustainable, and peaceful future—and at CEH we lead the charge to protect this precious habitat through education, research, and community-driven action in the face of urgent environmental challenges. We turn learning into action, through hands-on education, bold research and community projects which tackle urgent environmental challenges and spark a deep sense of responsibility for the planet for young people at local schools.
Our Story
It started with a simple question: What more can we do to protect the place we love?
Kodaikanal International School (KIS) has always shared a deep connection with its surroundings. Ask any alum and they'll recall nights under starlit skies, streams echoing through the hills, and the quiet magic of the Western Ghats. But loving a place comes with responsibility, especially as environmental degradation becomes harder to ignore.
A few committed individuals began with what they had. They started with waste. It's something immediate, visible, and solvable. Without waiting for external support or perfect solutions, they launched a campus recycling program. It wasn’t high-tech, but it worked. And it sparked something bigger.
By 2018, the KIS community had inspired 23 schools and 11 hotels across Kodaikanal to start recycling. The change caught on. And as the movement grew, so did the vision. Real environmental change, we realized, comes from experience: hands in soil, bottles sorted by weight, a sapling planted in hope. Waste became a gateway to learning, action, and connection.
That momentum became the KIS Center for Environment and Humanity (CEH). Backed by KIS’s legacy and rooted in the Western Ghats, CEH now tackles climate change adaptation, biodiversity, and sustainable agriculture, building from that first question: What if we could do more?
Since then, CEH has:
- Reached over 5,000 people
- Managed 20 tons of waste annually
- Launched a native plant nursery
- Partnered with 25+ institutions—local and global
We’ve worked with farmers, forest rangers, students, and scientists to turn care into action. But at its core, CEH is about belonging.
To a place. To a purpose. To a future we shape together.
Join us as we continue building a more sustainable future for Kodaikanal and beyond.
Meet the Team Running CEH
Experts. Changemakers. Passionate educators. Together, they power CEH’s mission.
Dr. Farshid Ahrestani is an authority on large herbivore ecology and the gaur, the world's largest bovid species. A teacher, software engineer and research ecologist with 30 years of experience in the US, he spent a decade in academia as a researcher at Columbia University, Pennsylvania State University, The Institute of Bird Populations and as a Fulbright Scholar. He has published numerous scientific articles in journals such as Science, Ecology, Journal of Tropical Ecology, and Oikos, and is the lead editor of a seminal volume titled The Ecology of Large Herbivores in South and Southeast Asia.
Farshid studied computer science and engineering at BITS, Pilani, Rajasthan and Syracuse University in New York, and ecology at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, USA, before earning a PhD from Wageningnen University, The Netherlands. He is passionate about contributing to the betterment of the Palani Hills after growing up in Madurai, and helped assess wildlife habitat in the Palani Hills in the 1990s.
Farshid hopes his time at CEH can help make a difference in leaving Kodaikanal and Palani Hills a better place for future generations.
The CEH Effect: The Change We're Driving Every Day
6 years
of creating a greener, more aware community.
20 tons
of waste processed annually, reducing our landfill load.
5,000+
locals empowered through conservation and education.
120
farmers connected to exchange ideas on climate change adaptation.
Governance with Integrity
CEH Leadership Team
Includes the KIS Senior Management Team, CEH Director, and KIS Development Officer. Major decisions — financial and strategic — are managed by them.
KIS Principal
Oversees CEH alignment with KIS’s mission of creating global leaders for a just and sustainable world.
KIS Council of Directors
The KIS Council of Directors oversee the long-term strategy and vision of KIS.
Behind the Scenes at CEH
Dive into the action! From hands-on workshops to breathtaking views of Kodaikanal, here’s a glimpse of life at CEH.
