The work of LEDeG was initiated by Helena Norberg-Hodge, a Swedish linguist who first came to Ladakh in 1975, just after the region had been opened up to tourism. In the 1970s, Ladakh emerged from a virtual isolation of about 25 years. The first of the many visitors were braving up the Himalayas to see Little Tibet for themselves. Concerned by the speed at which the winds of change were blowing, and the growing trends towards ‘western modernity’ and the resultant dismissal of local culture and environmental degradation, Ms. Norberg-Hodge set up the Ladakh Project in 1978 which later evolved into the ISEC.

In 1981, the Project put down indigenous roots and the Ladakh Ecological Development Group, independent of the Ladakh Project, came into being with the guiding philosophy that while change is inevitable, the direction of change needs to be directed in a manner that will benefit the people.

In 1983, LEDeG was registered as a Society in J&K State vide No. 766-S under the Jammu and Kashmir Society Act.