Invasive plants like Lantana  and Senna  are a serious problem in our forests. They spread fast, block native plants, and reduce space for wildlife. Removing them is necessary—but doing it every year  needs money and people. Most removal work depends on CSR funds or project grants . These funds help, but they do not last forever. Once the funding stops, the work often stops too. The government also does not have enough money to remove invasive species on a large scale every y

But not in the way ecologists usually think of plant invasions! This is not about live plants spreading, but more about inert forms of these species that are increasingly being taken into cities — as material, as art, and as a way of telling a larger ecological story. For close to twenty years now, we have been working on creating value and livelihoods from Lantana. One of the most visible outcomes of this work has been the Lantana elephant sculptures through the high-profile

Addressing these priorities, we adopted a semi-mechanised approach involving a winch-pulling method, which has proven to be a balanced solution for both ecological and practical considerations. This method was particularly effective in areas with moderate to dense Lantana infestations. It has been successfully implemented in the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, and Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary—three critical regions of the Western Ghats k