pune punebased ngo applied environmental research foundation aerf received the pulotsav social gratitude award given in the name of renowned marathi author p l deshpande for its work on conservation of biological diversity through participation of local communities in ratnagiri district and konkan for the last 15 years the award was given by the ratnagiri art circle and ashay cultural punearchana godbole director aerf said that the ratnagiri district is important as it has the highest density of sacred groves with urbanisation and developmental activities the faith of the locals in these grooves was reducing and the forests were been cut thus we worked on sacred grove conservation practice we created awareness among the locals about its importance and need for conservation she saidthe other areas aerf works in include conservation of privately owned forest patches conservation of agro forestry linking conservation to livelihood community climate change and conservation energy and biodiversityaerf has engaged local communities suggested solutions and acted on it through community participationgodbole who is also a member of the international union for conservation of natures commission on ecosystems management said that aerf eco restored 40 sacred groves in ratnagiri district and protected more than 100 hectares of land under itaerf has also spoken in favour of developmental works in sindudurg district and to stop mining as well as developing collaboration and partnership with local ngos about conservation