Beneath the surface of India's rivers, streams and wetlands live more than 900 species of fish, many found nowhere else on earth, alongside countless other freshwater animals. Most are small, cryptic and barely documented. Over 30% of the country's freshwater fishes already face some threat. We work to record this life, and to help protect it before it disappears unnoticed.
We are a group of naturalists with a long-standing interest in India's freshwater ecosystems. We study rivers, streams and wetlands across peninsular India. Most of what lives in these waters is small, cryptic, and has no common name anyone recognises. That is part of why it disappears without notice.
Our work runs through documentary films, field research, publications, and direct outreach to schools, colleges and public forums. We keep overheads lean, so the bulk of our resources go where they belong: in the field and in classrooms.
What is happening right now across our film work, weekly writing, and community outreach.
A short documentary on Sahyadria denisonii, the Roseline Shark, and the Western Ghats rivers it calls home. A trade fish, an endemic river, and a question the aquarium industry has not answered.
Coming November 2026
Articles and interviews on freshwater species, habitats and conservation
Coming soon
We are planning riverbank clean-ups and community outreach along streams in the Western Ghats, some of the healthiest habitats left for India's endemic freshwater fishes. Bring your hands, take home a river. Dates and locations to follow.
Coming soonEverything we do falls into a few connected streams of work, from boots-on-the-ground surveys to the classrooms of the next generation.
Rigorous, boots-on-the-ground river expeditions to document data-deficient species, analyse aquatic health, and map critical habitats in under-surveyed basins. Field reports, science news, and a growing species and habitats database, all openly accessible.
Community outreach, river and lake clean-ups, habitat surveys, and environmental impact reviews. We work directly with riparian communities, drawing on both ethno-knowledge and modern science.
Peer-reviewed papers, field guides, books and posters connected to our work. We are building an open-access repository of freshwater aquatic life records for researchers, educators and the public.
Short and long-form films on India's freshwater species and habitats, for broadcast, online distribution, and direct use in schools. Our first film covers Sahyadria denisonii and its Western Ghats rivers.
Occasional field dispatches with new research findings, film news, and species records worth sharing. No weekly padding, only when we have something worth saying.
A virtual reference library. We are collecting research papers, field notes and documentation on Indian freshwater biodiversity for open access.
Freshwaters India Foundation is the brainchild of people from very different backgrounds: ichthyology, film-making, business development, software development, project management, all of whom share a passion for freshwater aquatic life. Over the past 25 years, we have individually and collectively explored water bodies across India, marvelled at the diversity within, and despaired at their decline.
This not-for-profit initiative is our attempt to document the depth and breadth of life in freshwater habitats across the country, and hopefully to inspire others to share in our joy and wonder, and to help us conserve and protect these places for the generations to come.
Freshwaters, rivers, lakes and wetlands, cover less than 1% of the earth's surface, yet they are the beating heart and lifeblood of every terrestrial ecosystem. We need water to drink, to grow crops, to generate electricity, for transport, and to support the flora and fauna that quietly improve our quality of life. Yet we have undervalued freshwater ecosystems and mismanaged our reserves. Over the past 50 years, freshwater wetlands have declined three times as fast as tropical forests, and populations of aquatic organisms have fallen by as much as 80%.
India's freshwaters are home to some of the world's most fascinating, and poorly studied, species. From some of the smallest vertebrates known to science to some of the world's largest freshwater fish. From troglobitic animals that rarely see daylight, to some of the most popular aquarium fish on earth.
As climate change compounds the effects of biodiversity loss, protecting our freshwater ecosystems has never been more urgent. The tipping point is years away now, no longer in the faraway future. Luckily, freshwater ecosystems are surprisingly resilient. They recover, quickly, when they are protected, managed and used sustainably.
Successful conservation requires the support and participation of the general public, and especially the communities whose daily lives lie alongside the habitats to be conserved. We also recognise critical gaps, in the availability and quality of data that inform policy, and in public access to that data. We try to make a positive change in three ways.
Rigorous river expeditions to record data-deficient species, analyse aquatic health, and map critical habitats. We build datasets rooted in science and readily accessible to the public and to policy planners.
We work directly with riparian communities and local stakeholders to build sustainable, grassroots monitoring and conservation networks, drawing on ethno-knowledge as well as modern science.
We develop outreach programmes for schools and colleges, so the citizens of the future understand freshwater ecosystems and are equipped with the tools and knowledge to conserve them.
The naturalists, film-makers and researchers behind Freshwaters India.
Beta Mahatvaraj photographs and films India's native freshwater fishes where they actually live, in the rivers and streams. He works out of Chennai, under the name Meenkaran. Getting the habitat right matters to him as much as getting the fish sharp. His images run in publications read by scientists and by serious aquarists, and he teaches workshops on fish biodiversity and freshwater fish photography. The point of all of it is simple: most people have no idea how much lives in these waters, or how fast it is disappearing.
Deepak has been hooked on fish since he was a kid, curious about how they behave and how people live alongside the water they depend on. He works in technology, and brings a scientific, problem-solving habit of mind to it. He likes to drive and travel to new places, watch the natural world, and learn from the people around it. What holds his attention now is grassroots conservation: the slow, practical work of changing how a freshwater ecosystem is treated.
Nilanjan makes nature documentaries for a living, and covers research and outreach for Freshwaters India. He grew up around the wetlands and swamps of lower Bengal. Put him in a river with a snorkel and a fish to watch, and he is happy. The rest of the time he is behind on a backlog of unprocessed images, out birdwatching, or coaxing plants to grow.
Dinyar’s passion for fishkeeping began in childhood, raising fish in jam jars and cooking pots in Kolkata, and has grown into a lifelong practice spanning over three decades. Through his career in international development, he witnessed firsthand how rapid economic growth has degraded aquatic habitats across the developing world. Today, those experiences drive his dedication to protecting and conserving India’s rich aquatic biodiversity.
Rahul runs science communication and research at Freshwaters India. He trained as a zoologist, did a short stint in edutech, then spent the better part of twenty years on the fishes of South Asia, some of it on his own and some with the ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources. It started in childhood, poking around the water bodies near his home in Kerala. Off the clock he reads, keeps aquaria, and putters about the garden.
Peninsular India's rivers hold creatures that have no lobby, no charisma campaign, and no vernacular name most people recognise. These animals have been here far longer than we have. The least we can do is learn their names.
Freshwaters India Foundation, Organisational Brief 2026Whether you have an afternoon, a skill set, or a company behind you, there is a way in.
Anyone can contribute to conservation with Freshwaters India. Volunteer your time and expertise, contribute data, organise an outreach programme, or donate to fund our projects. We will send you occasional field dispatches, nothing more.
Thank you. You are on the list, and we will be in touch when we have something worth sharing.
