Tribal-led enterprise turns invasive lantana into fuel, restores Sathyamangalam forest

Sathyamangalam: In scattered clearings across the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, small groups move through thickets that were once difficult to enter. They cut, pull, and uproot a plant that has tightened its grip on this landscape for decades: Lantana camara.

What was once impenetrable is now being opened up, patch by patch, by the very communities that have lived alongside these forests for generations.

At the centre of this shift is TAMS Tribal Green Fuels Private Limited, a tribal-led enterprise turning Lantana camara, one of the world’s most aggressive invasive plants, into industrial fuel. Through this work, conservation, livelihood, ownership, and restoration are being brought into the same system.

The weed has been a menace here. It chokes native grasses, blocks animal movement, and fuels hotter forest fires. Clearing it by hand is slow, backbreaking work. And it grows back fast.

Since beginning operations in May 2024, the company has sold 808 tonnes of lantana briquettes, supported around 350 tribal members through regular livelihood opportunities, and cleared nearly 150 acres within the core area of the reserve.