About CATCH Foundation
Our Story: From One Clean-Up Drive to a Movement to Green India
What started as a small cleanliness drive in one Ahmedabad neighbourhood in 2014 has grown into CATCH Foundation, a tree plantation NGO in Ahmedabad that has planted over 12.8 lakh trees and created 200+ dense urban forests across 30 cities.
Catch Your Tree is how we bring that decade of work directly to you — adopt a tree, and you are joining something that has already been running for over ten years, not starting from scratch.
01
Our Story
On 2 October 2014, the day India's Prime Minister launched the Swachh Bharat Mission, our founder Bharat Sisodia started a cleanliness drive in his own housing society in Motera, Ahmedabad.
What began as “Mera Swachh Motera” spread neighbourhood by neighbourhood into “Mera Swachh Ahmedabad” — a citizen-led movement that formally became CATCH Foundation.
The name stands for Creating Awareness To Change Habits. In the early years, that meant teaching households and shopkeepers to segregate dry and wet waste and cutting down on single-use plastic.
As that work grew, so did our understanding of what a genuinely clean city actually needs — not just less waste, but more green cover. That shift took us from cleanliness drives into full-scale urban reforestation. Today, more than 250 societies and 15,000+ families are part of the CATCH network.
02
Why Trees, Specifically
Cleanliness drives are a natural entry point for a neighbourhood NGO — everyone can see the problem, everyone can pitch in. Trees are a harder sell.
They take years to show results, they need real technical knowledge to survive in a city climate, and unlike a clean-up drive, you cannot finish a forest in an afternoon.
We moved into tree plantation anyway, because a cleaner Ahmedabad without a greener one is only half the job. It's also, honestly, the harder half — which is part of why we built our own planting method instead of just running one-off sapling drives like most local campaigns do.
03
From CATCH Foundation to Catch Your Tree
Catch Your Tree grew directly out of this history. After more than a decade of planting and maintaining dense native forests across India — often in partnership with organisations like Worley, CSIR-NEERI, and the National Security Guard (NSG) — we wanted to make it possible for individual citizens, not just corporations, to fund and follow a tree of their own.
Every tree adopted through Catch Your Tree is planted and maintained using the same process, the same team, and the same transparency that has guided CATCH Foundation since 2014.
Explore Our Ahmedabad PlantationOur Mission
Plant and nurture 100 crore (1 billion) trees by 2035.
Restoring India's forest cover and giving people cleaner air and a healthier environment in the cities they live in.
Our Impact So Far
A decade of work, measured on the ground.
12,83,667+ trees planted
203+ multi-species dense forests created
30 cities across India covered
200+ hectares of degraded land restored
500+ volunteers actively involved
Our Method
कैच – वन संरक्षण प्रणाली
The CATCH Forest Protection System is our own process built on the Japanese Miyawaki method for growing dense, multi-layered native forests fast.
Deep soil preparation
Native-only species selection
Dense multi-layer planting
Two to three years of active maintenance
The result: forests that grow up to 10x faster, hold 30x more green cover, and survive at a rate of over 90%.
Who's Behind It
A citizen-first movement.
CATCH Foundation's volunteer network includes senior citizens, homemakers, entrepreneurs, army officers, and government officials — people from every walk of life who share one goal: a greener, cleaner India.
It is this citizen-first model, not a large paid staff, that has taken us from one society in Motera to 30 cities nationwide.
Trust & Transparency
Accountability isn't optional.
CATCH Foundation is a registered NGO under the Public Trust Act, 1950 (Reg. No. E/21446/Ahmedabad), and is registered under 12A and 80G of the Income Tax Act — meaning your tree adoption is eligible for a tax deduction.
We publish our project timelines and maintenance schedules openly. You are also welcome to visit an active site.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about CATCH Foundation
Who founded CATCH Foundation?
CATCH Foundation was founded by Bharat Sisodia in 2014, starting as a neighbourhood cleanliness drive in Motera, Ahmedabad, before growing into a nationwide urban reforestation NGO.
Is CATCH Foundation a registered and legally recognised NGO?
Yes. CATCH Foundation is registered under the Public Trust Act, 1950 (Reg. No. E/21446/Ahmedabad), and holds both 12A and 80G registration under the Income Tax Act.
What does CATCH stand for?
Creating Awareness To Change Habits — reflecting its roots in cleanliness and habit-change campaigns before expanding into tree plantation.
What is the CATCH Forest Protection System?
CATCH Foundation’s own forest-planting method, built on the Japanese Miyawaki technique, using dense multi-layered native planting to grow self-sustaining forests up to 10 times faster with a survival rate over 90%.
How is Catch Your Tree connected to CATCH Foundation?
Catch Your Tree is CATCH Foundation’s platform for individual tree adoption, using the same process, team, and transparency the Foundation has used since 2014.
Where does CATCH Foundation currently work?
Across 30 cities in India, with active projects including our current Ahmedabad plantation site.
Can I verify these numbers myself?
Yes — CATCH Foundation publishes its impact figures on catchfoundation.in, and adopters can request to visit an active plantation site in person.
Does CATCH Foundation only work with corporate CSR partners, or can individuals get involved too?
Both. We have partnered with organisations like Worley and CSIR-NEERI on large projects, and individuals can adopt a single tree through Catch Your Tree — same process, either way.
Ready to be part of the story?
Adopt a tree today and get a digital certificate, geo-tagged tracking, and three years of guaranteed care.
Adopt a Tree Now →