Born: December 27, 1965

Smt. Snehlata Nath since twenty years has worked in the field of eco-development, livelihood and sustainability and inter connected these to bring progression in the lives of the tribal people of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Smt. Nath is one of the Directors of Keystone Foundation which was established in 1993. She aims at providing a sustainable livelihood support to the community while preserving their traditional way of life and conserving the environment.

Smt. Nath and the team of Keystone focus on the core aspects of ecology and economy, developing appropriate technology for mountain systems, biodiversity and indigenous communities, forests, water and land, livelihoods, culture, green enterprise and environmental governance.

Some of the nee-based, traditional and appropriate technologies designed and introduced by the Foundation has eased the drudgery of the villagers and helped in producing good quality and value added agricultural and forest produce locally.

These inventions and adaptations include fruit/amla cutter, wax melting unit, wax sheet maker, solar wax extractor, honey filter, honey extractor, seed drier, soap press, soap mixture, soap making equipment, solar tunnel drier, solar tent, introducing mid-rib cutting technique to drain honey, bee keeping tools-swarm catch net, conservation and sustainable honey harvest practice, pollen removing technique, millet de-stoning machine , millet de-husker, solar powered water pumping system, etc. This has also promoted employment locally and increased opportunity for labour and stopped migration to urban areas.

To reach out to the community, Keystone Foundation’s centers in the Biosphere Reserve, promote capacity building, product and market development, community self reliance, value addition, income generation and fair trade practices. The Production Centre Development – are centers or village units which are support systems of the Foundation. Here implementation and research go hand in hand. Smt. Snehlata Nath strives to combine ecologically sensitive development with rural enterprise. Today tribal communities have formed their groups and are managing their operation successfully through the units with the help of Keystone’s technical and marketing guidance and supervision. The plan of action for the future regarding these rural technologies, is to build an inhouse facility to manufacture these as per orders.

Natural resources like honey and bees wax have been transformed by the application of these technologies.

Smt. Snehlata Nath aims at providing a sustainable livelihood support to the community while preserving their traditional way of life and conserving the environment.