New Delhi, Mar 3 (IANS): Tech giant Apple on Friday announced a new initiative to support improved water, sanitation and hygiene outcomes in India.

In partnership with environmental NGO Frank Water, Apple is supporting the development of an innovative, scalable approach that strengthens local water management and decision making, and expands equitable access to water quality data.

"Some of the most powerful solutions to climate change and the global water crisis come from the communities living every day with these challenges," said Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives.

"By supporting innovative, community-based approaches in India and around the world, Apple is making progress toward our global climate goals while doing our part to help people improve their lives," she added.

Beginning with a pilot in Anekal taluk on the outskirts of Bengaluru, Frank Water is surveying households and analysing multiple data sources to map how water is used in the area.

The organisation uses hydrological modeling and is developing a state-of-the-art decision support process, which puts tools in the hands of the community.

Together, Apple, Frank Water, and local partners aim to use the enhanced data and expanded partnerships to demonstrate how collective water stewardship, working alongside businesses, can be a model to replicate across India and beyond.

Apple also continues to work with the Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF) to preserve mangroves along India's coast.

Mangroves are an especially powerful nature-based solution for carbon removal, with the capacity to store up to 10 times more carbon per acre than terrestrial forests.

Since the partnership launched in 2021, local villagers signed conservation agreements that helped over 200 marginal fishing community members across Roha, Pen, and Alibaug blocks in the Raigad district of Maharashtra.

Under the agreements, village members receive sustained support in exchange for conserving privately owned mangrove forests. This effort is helping to transition the local economy while preserving the mangroves, keeping them intact and healthy, said Apple.

In India, Apple also works with the Barefoot College, which trains rural women to become solar engineers in their communities.

Already carbon neutral for its global corporate operations, Apple is focused on its ambitious 2030 goal to become carbon neutral across its entire global supply chain.