A quiet revolution is underway in the lush hills of Kerala’s Western Ghats — one orchid at a time.

V.U. Sabu, a healthcare management professional from Ambalavayal village in Kerala’s Wayanad district, has been trekking into the Western Ghats at least once a month since 2014. In these hilly terrains, he searches for rare wild orchids, which bloom throughout the year. When he spots more than one flower of the same species, he carefully plucks one and replants it in his garden, mimicking its natural growing conditions.

After propagating the orchid in his home garden and documenting its growth—a process that can take anywhere from a few months to over a year—he then reintroduces it into the wild in the same location, taking care not to disturb the surrounding ecosystem. For Sabu, rewilding orchids is more than a hobby; it’s an effort to conserve biodiversity for future generations.

“These are rare wild orchids, so rewilding helps keep them safe and increases their numbers. Otherwise, people might pluck them, or they could get poached. Changing patterns of rain and sunlight can also harm these delicate flowers,” he explains. Sabu regularly visits the rewilded plants every three, six, or twelve months to check on their health.

So far, he, without any help, has replanted 600 wild orchid saplings in the Western Ghats and cultivated 253 native varieties—about 36 of them endangered—in his home garden. Some of these orchids are Cymbidium aloifolium, Anoectochilus elatus, Luisia tenuifolia, and Bulbophyllum neilgherrense.

Image credit: Bulbophyllum careyanum. Photo by V.U Sabu, provided to Greenauve.

At home, he has constructed three polyhouses. These polyhouses, a type of greenhouse, are covered with specialised transparent or translucent materials like polythene sheets. Sabu also put together two “crown trees”, one inside a polyhouse and another outside, to grow the orchids. To make these “crown trees”, he attached coconut husks to a coffee plant, as orchids tend to thrive in them. He has also created a solar-powered orchidarium in his garden to grow some of the orchids. 

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, rewilding aims to “restore healthy ecosystems by creating wild, biodiverse spaces.” It’s the act of rebuilding ecosystems impacted by human activities, with the flora and fauna that would have been present if the disturbance had never occurred.

Image credit: A glimpse of one of the polyhouses. Photo by V.U Sabu, provided to Greenauve.

Sabu stresses that rewilding requires creating a similar environment in which a plant naturally grows. For example, if he finds orchids near streams or rocky terrain, he recreates similar conditions in his garden. His garden and polyhouses are powered by solar energy, and he even plays music to promote healthy plant growth—something he has found to be surprisingly effective.

Rewilding not only helps protect native flora and fauna but also restores locally endangered species that are at risk of extinction. It’s also a means to control invasive species that displace native biodiversity and rehabilitate degraded land. A case in point is Delhi’s 380-acre Aravali Biodiversity Park, once a mining wasteland, which has now been transformed into a sanctuary for endangered and rare plants of the northern Aravali hills.

Image credit: V.U. Sabu’s solar-powered orchidarium. Photo by V.U Sabu, provided to Greenauve.

“There are many misconceptions about rewilding—people think it’s about doing nothing and letting nature take its course. But in reality, it’s about actively conserving endangered species, maintaining ecological balance, and restoring green cover so that both flora and fauna can thrive,” Sabu concludes.