If you’ve ever spotted a small, handmade nest in your neighborhood, chances are it has ties to Rakesh Khatri. For the past 14 years, this passionate environmentalist has been reshaping India’s urban landscape, one nest at a time. Known as the ‘Nest Man of India,’ Khatri has built over 7,30,000 nests across the country, providing a safe haven for the declining population of house sparrows and other small birds. Among the avian community, he is nothing short of an architectural genius.
The Beginning of a Movement
Back in 2008, when Khatri first started building nests, skeptics dismissed his efforts. “Sparrows build their own nests. What makes you think they’ll choose yours?” they asked. Yet, armed with jute, rope, and an unshakable belief in his mission, he installed his first nest in Mayur Vihar, Delhi. A few days later, the sound of cheerful chirps from the nest confirmed that he was on the right path.
Since then, his creations have housed magpies, robins, bulbuls, and, most importantly, house sparrows. With a steady decline in sparrow populations across metro cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai, Khatri’s work has become a beacon of hope for conservation efforts.
The Vanishing Sparrow and the Urbanization Effect
For many Indians, sparrows are intertwined with childhood memories, from their presence in courtyards to their chirps at sunrise. These birds have silently witnessed the changing urban landscape, but modernization has not been kind to them. As green spaces gave way to concrete jungles, sparrows found themselves displaced. The rise in cellphone towers, electromagnetic radiation, and pollution only added to their woes. According to a national-level assessment, habitat loss due to a lack of nesting spaces has significantly contributed to their dwindling numbers.
Determined to reverse this trend, Khatri has spent years designing bird-friendly spaces, proving that cities can coexist with nature. His motivation? A piece of advice from a gardener: “Don’t stop making nests. You are giving the sparrows back the home we took from them.”
From Filmmaker to Conservationist
Khatri’s love for birds wasn’t always so profound. As a child, he would catch sparrows that nested on ceiling fans in his home. His grandfather, however, warned him against disturbing the birds. Those childhood experiences, combined with a later realization about the importance of conservation, led him to embrace bird protection as a full-time endeavor.
Before dedicating his life to this cause, Khatri was a documentary filmmaker. But in 2008, he made the life-changing decision to trade the corporate world for environmental activism. His dedication has since earned him accolades such as the National Science Award (2020), a mention in the Limca Book of Records (2018), the International Green Apple Award (2013), the Earth Day Network Star (2020), and the title of ‘Earth Champion’ by Sony BBC Earth (2025). His contributions to bird conservation have also led to his membership in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
A Community-Driven Initiative
Khatri’s work is not just about providing shelter for birds—it’s about community engagement and empowerment. His journey has inspired people across generations. One heartwarming instance involved an 85-year-old gynecologist from Bengaluru who learned to make a nest under Khatri’s guidance. She later wrote to him, saying, “I have delivered many babies in my lifetime. But the joy I felt when I gave a sparrow a home was something entirely different.”
His nest-building materials have also evolved over time. What began with jute, rope, and coconut shells has now expanded to include eco-friendly alternatives like water hyacinth. This floating plant, notorious for choking water bodies, is now being repurposed through his project, ‘Jal Sparsh.’ Women in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana harvest and dry water hyacinths to create nests, simultaneously helping restore the ecological balance of lakes.
Educating the Future Generations
At the heart of Khatri’s mission is education. His Eco Roots Foundation has conducted over 7,000 nest-making workshops across India, training school children to become the next generation of conservationists. These hands-on workshops don’t just teach students how to build nests—they also instill a sense of responsibility for local biodiversity.
The foundation also empowers rural women by engaging them in sustainable initiatives. In Uttarakhand, women are trained to create value-added products from native plants like buransh and malta. Meanwhile, in biodiversity hotspots such as the Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Noida, Lucknow Zoo, Dudhwa Lion Safari, and Pilibhit Nature Park, women serve as nature guides, sharing their knowledge about local flora and fauna.
A Mission with a Lasting Impact
Through his relentless efforts, Khatri is ensuring that sparrows, once on the verge of disappearing from urban India, find a way back home. His work is not merely about building nests—it’s about rebuilding an ecosystem that welcomes all creatures, big and small.
For Khatri, this is more than a mission—it is a lifelong commitment. “There is no bigger blessing in this world than when you give someone a home,” he says. And in doing so, he continues to restore harmony between nature and urban life, one nest at a time.