Dam catchment regions in Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot, have special significance for its ecologyand sustainable development. As a part of the Western Ghats mountain range, they host unique biodiversitythat needs to be conserved. The study area viz. Pavana, Chaskaman and Dimbhe catchments are part of theNorthern Western Ghats. These dams have been built on rivers that supply water to several large cities andto a large part of Maharashtra’s agriculture in the Deccan Plateau. Conserving forest cover in these regionshas a direct impact on water security. Considering the above factors the study of land use and vegetationwas conducted in the catchments of Pavana, Chaskaman and Dimbhe. This study involved classificationand identification of land use classes supported by ground truthing in the catchment areas.

For areas having degraded vegetation cover, the recommended approach was ecological restoration (Gole,1990) (Gole, 2007). Based on this study we developed and tested a method to compare relative restorationpotential and prioritization across multiple dam catchments. Restoration guidelines, both general andcatchment-specific, were developed to guide an implementation program.