The sacred groves, located between 0.5 to 1.00 km from the shoreline, are the only surviving formations of the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest (TDEF). It is a unique coastal ecosystem restricted to a narrow strip of coastal track of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. It is a part of the coastal landscape but much neglected. About 65 woody species have been identified in coastal sacred groves, and nearly 60% of them are evergreen. The present project aims at restoring degraded coastal sacred groves and improving their management practices by building the capacity of the local communities. The project will restore 10 ha of coastal sacred groves by planting TDEF species. The water resources associated with the sacred groves will also be restored and augmented. The local community will be mobilized and organized as a gender balanced village-level institution (VLI). These VLIs will be the lead partner, and local people will participate in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the project. The project will result in enhanced ecosystem services of coastal sacred groves and enhanced management capacity of the local community.