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Biodiversity (The Right Green) · INDIA

Aadya Joshi

Mumbai student (American School of Bombay) who founded The Right Green: a database of 15,000+ plant–insect feeding relationships from eco-regions across India plus a BioPower Index ranking plants by the biodiversity they support, so landscapers, gardeners and civic authorities can choose native planting; won the Children’s Climate Prize 2020, Changemaker category (diploma, medal, SEK 100,000), aged 17. The CCP’s April 2021 follow-up records her “nature superhero” schools programme for 700 schools in the Mumbai region. Place is Mumbai, NOT Pune; category Changemaker, NOT Clean Air.

Aged 17 at the award (November 2020)

Maharashtra · India

Aadya Joshi, founder of The Right Green — the captioned portrait published inside The Global Indian’s profile of her
Aadya Joshi — the captioned founder portrait published inside The Global Indian’s profile of her
Image source ↗ · The Global Indian
Source photograph · credit and provenance below

BEHIND THE RESULT

Why the wrong tree can starve a bird

When Aadya Joshi was a school student in Mumbai, she noticed something many adults walked past: planting trees does not automatically help nature. The wrong, non-native species can starve the insects and birds that depend on local plants. As a junior at the American School of Bombay, she founded The Right Green to teach people — starting with children — why native plants matter, turning a garbage-strewn lot near a police station into a community garden along the way.

A database for biodiversity

Her bigger tool was data. Aadya built a database of more than 15,000 plant–insect feeding relationships from eco-regions across India, and created a BioPower Index that ranks plants by how much biodiversity they support, so landscapers, gardeners and civic authorities can choose what to plant. In November 2020, when she was 17, the Children’s Climate Prize in Sweden named her its Changemaker winner for 2020, awarding her a diploma, a medal and SEK 100,000 to develop the project.

A spark to explore

The jury praised how she combined “modern database technology with the traditional knowledge of native plants” to help communities act. After the prize, she worked with a large Indian media house on a nature programme for 700 schools in the Mumbai region. Aadya has given few interviews, and The Right Green’s later growth is only thinly documented. If you could plant one native species where you live, which local insect or bird would you be feeding? That is a question from us, not part of her record.

Source-based story · the activities are prompts for readers.

Open the article edition →

The achievement, in context.

Children’s Climate Prize 2020 — Changemaker

Mumbai student (American School of Bombay) who founded The Right Green: a database of 15,000+ plant–insect feeding relationships from eco-regions across India plus a BioPower Index ranking plants by the biodiversity they support, so landscapers, gardeners and civic authorities can choose native planting; won the Children’s Climate Prize 2020, Changemaker category (diploma, medal, SEK 100,000), aged 17. The CCP’s April 2021 follow-up records her “nature superhero” schools programme for 700 schools in the Mumbai region. Place is Mumbai, NOT Pune; category Changemaker, NOT Clean Air.

2020-11-02 · Supporting source ↗

Sources you can explore.

Children’s Climate Prize · winners announcement, 2 November 2020 ↗Organising body release

Children’s Climate Prize · official winners page ↗Organising body record

Children’s Climate Prize · follow-up on Aadya Joshi, 6 April 2021 ↗Organising body release

The Global Indian · profile of Aadya Joshi, 14 May 2024 ↗Profile report

Original source ↗

Another spark to discover.

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Aditya Tiwari with his young son AvnishInclusion advocacy

Madhya Pradesh · India

Avnish Tiwari

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9 when he received the national award in January 2024

Read the story →

Human RACE ↗Source photograph · see credit