Between April 11th and April 15th, 2026, a group of six TGBS assessors visited the Niskrtih Mine Restoration Eco Park to conduct the second TGBS site assessment in India. The Niskrtih Eco Park, operated by Ramco Cements, covers 95 hectares of retired limestone mines, and has a particular connection to the standard’s development: prior to its public launch, the site served as one of the pilot projects used to trial and refine the TGBS assessment methodology. The conditions, restoration complexity, and data gathered there contributed directly to shaping the standard now being applied to sites around the world.
The TGBS Hong Kong Hub led the formal independent assessment, with assessors Stephan Gale and Fernanda Cardoso verifying Ramco’s systematic flora and fauna surveys, conducting their own ecological surveys, and holding discussions with assorted stakeholders and Ramco employees, through which they learned about the park’s significance to the local community. The India Hub assessors and team members played a supporting role, contributing specialist flora identification, faunal surveys, drone operations, and site familiarity developed through an ongoing partnership with Ramco Cements. This pairing of independent assessment rigour with local ecological expertise and project stakeholders reflects the collaborative model central to how TGBS Hubs are designed to work together.
Survey findings pointed to meaningful ecological recovery across the site’s three restoration phases, initiated between 2018 and 2021. Flora surveys recorded up to 71 woody species per 30-minute transect in the oldest restored zones, with mature canopy, natural recruitment, fruiting, and early soil formation documented. Fauna surveys identified 66 bird species, 42 butterfly species, and multiple mammal species. During the official TGBS assessment, these results were compared against data gathered at an unrestored mine which served as a proxy site, and against a reference model developed by the TGBS-India Hub based on extensive historical research and surveys of nearby reserve forests.
After careful review of the assessment report by the TGBS Secretariat, the Niskrtih Mine Restoration Eco Park received Advanced TGBS Certification becoming the first TGBS-Certified restoration site in south India and in the state of Tamil Nadu, and to join the SYNJUK Lum Jong u Mong site of the Khasi Hills Community REDD+ Project, which received TGBS-Advanced Tier certification in September 2025, as the second TGBS-Certified site in India
Media coverage:
- Ramco Cements Mine Restoration Gets Global Biodiversity Certification
- India: Ramco Cements’ Pandalgudi limestone mine earns biodiversity certification
- Ramco Cements Pandalgudi mine restoration wins global biodiversity certification
- Ramco Cements’ Pandalgudi Mine Restoration Earns International Biodiversity Recognition
- Ramco Cements’ Pandalgudi Mine Restoration is awarded the Advanced Certification by the Global Biodiversity Standard
