Rishi Valley Education Centre is run by Krishnamurti Foundation, India. It is located in a sheltered valley in the interior of rural Andhra Pradesh, about 15 km from the nearest town, Madanapalle, and about 140 km north-east of Bangalore. The site of the school, chosen by Krishnamurti for its remarkable atmosphere of peace and serenity, is an undulating landscape of fields, rain-fed streams and scattered villages, surrounded by ancient granite hills with striking rock formations. Located in a drought-prone area, the hill slopes are sparse in vegetation and the valley floor dotted with an occasional banyan or tamarind tree. Years of sustained reforestation and water conservation measures have transformed the school campus into a veritable forest area and the once-barren hillside bordering the campus is now covered with a green cover of young trees. Conserving and enhancement of the natural environment remain aspects of the school's core values. In July 1991 Rishi Valley was officially declared a bird sanctuary, and was cited by the International Council for Bird Preservation. In 2008, the Andhra Pradesh government declared Rishi Valley and its environs a ‘Special Development Zone’, with the mandate to ‘protect and conserve its rich and diverse environment from becoming degraded through unchecked growth’ (G.O.Ms.No.97, 24/01/08).