Preety S.

Background

About Preety S.

I grew up in the old world of Kolkata, immersed in the rich heritage of my lineage—rooted in the Indigenous Lotha community of Nagaland and the Brahmins of Rajasthan. My childhood was a journey of discovering my identity—wandering through Jhum fields and rainforests on one hand, and savoring daal-baati and ker-sangri on the other. As we moved to our home in Nagaland 20 years ago, I unlearned and relearned human-nature relations vis.a.vis privilege and colonization from my interactions and lived-experience in my maternal community. Qualified as an engineer, my professional journey has ironically taken me away from the IT sector into the world of conservation and development, beginning with a fellowship in Khetri, Rajasthan. Over more than a decade, I have dedicated myself to community development and sustainability efforts focused on biodiversity and livelihoods. My work has encompassed initiatives such as solid waste management solutions with local potter villages to developing Snow Leopard conservation enterprises with tribal women from the trans-Himalayan region. I have designed solutions for the Soliga tribe aimed at eradicating Lantana Camara from their forests as well as building an indigenous team in Nagaland for WCS' flagship project. My work has involved collaborating with global institutes and local grassroots groups alike. My expertise lies in interdisciplinary action and research in the community based and/or led conservation work along with implementing sustainable solutions for people and place based issues in the rural and indigenous landscape of India. Since 2021, I have been currently building my experience in Nagaland, my home state. I joined GroundUp Conservation in 2022 to effectively build the grassroots movement in conservation in the North-east of India. In a very hi-touch and hyper local model, my team and I work to ensure grassroots development, landscape conservation and economic sustainability in the interest of indigenous and local communities. I operationalize my work through youth leadership, using indigenous knowledge systems and direct ownership and autonomy of grassroots through policy and local action in their territories. Currently engaging with 4 local grassroots groups from across 4 different indigenous communities - I am demonstrating our inclusive vision. As a mixed-race conservation practitioner, I strive for inter-disciplinarity and reflexive conservation action. If you want to discuss further, let's connect.