Madhav Gadgil, an Indian ecologist, learned from childhood to respect the rights of the most deprived sections of society. One of the most striking memories of Madhav Gadgil’s early life is working with his economist and politician father on a hydroelectric project in the state of Maharashtra.
Go on tour. Deforestation was happening rapidly in that area. Madhav Gadgil’s father often spoke out against it. Madhav Gadgil recalls, “My father told me, ‘We need this electricity and it is very important for India to make industrial progress. But should we pay the price for it with environmental destruction and Should we pay for the suffering of the local people?’” “This is the reason why sympathy for the people and love for nature was ingrained in me in my childhood itself.” Such experiences shaped Gadgil, the public scientist. In his scientific career spanning more than six decades, Madhav Gadgil considers himself a “people’s scientist”. Madhav Gadgil In his six decades of scientific career, he has written seven books and at least 225 scientific papers, but his most notable work is the Gadgil Report, in which India’s environmentally fragile Western Ghats mountain region is facing increasing industrial threats and climate crisis. There has been a call to save. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has honored him with the ‘Earth Champion’ award. Inger Andersen, the UN agency’s executive director, believes Madhav Gadgil took conservation efforts to new heights by demonstrating his deep respect for people and community knowledge. He has proposed sustainable solutions to some of India’s most pressing environmental challenges. Madhav Gadgil is in his 80s, but he still continues his efforts to conserve India’s most fragile ecosystems. Land degradation and disastersAlmost one-third of India’s land mass has been degraded, making local communities highly vulnerable to disasters. In 2024, more than 200 people died in a major landslide tragedy in the state of Kerala, one of the worst disasters in recent years. According to one report, landslides were caused by intense rainfall due to anthropogenic climate change, as mining and deforestation weakened the slopes. The Gadgil Report in 2011 warned about the negative impacts of uncontrolled development in the region. In the report, commissioned by India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Gadgil and other scientists recommended dividing the Western Ghats region into ecologically sensitive zones and making development “eco-friendly and people-oriented”. Although the sector is still under pressure, Madhav Gadgil believes he has helped change the direction of the debate around ecological conservation and restoration efforts in India. “Communities are asserting rights over their land and natural resources,” says Gadgil. They are getting organized, and we must continue to move forward on the path of inclusive development and conservation. This path is not new for Gadgil. Is. During his decades-long tenure at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), he founded the Center for Ecological Sciences. Madhav Gadgil has worked closely with forest dwellers, farmers and fishing communities. His efforts have also included collaboration with activists and policy makers. One of his biggest tasks is the establishment of India’s first biosphere reserve. The biosphere is the area on, below and above the Earth’s surface where life exists. In 1986 he conducted ecological surveys in three states of the Western Ghats, living among communities in the forests, interacting with them and traveling. Today the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is the largest protected area in India. Gadgil’s community-led conservation and resource management has played an important role in land and biodiversity conservation, particularly in a region where habitat degradation and forest fragmentation have long been concerns. Gadgil has worked with several government agencies. and served as a member of committees, including the Prime Minister’s Scientific Advisory Council. He was one of the main creators of India’s Biological Diversity Act and was also involved in the implementation of the Forest Rights Act. Through these laws, Madhav Gadgil empowered forest communities to integrate themselves into their local ecosystems, Has helped in preparing Biodiversity Register for monitoring biodiversity. Through these registers, local communities have been able to keep track of forest products such as bamboo, fruits, fish and plants and plan their best use. In a village in Maharashtra, local environmentalists found that water released into a river The fish population was decreasing due to the poisonous chemicals being released. Gadgil said that many nearby villages agreed to ban these chemicals, which has since improved the biodiversity of the river. Gadgil says that some villages have started using biodiversity registers to record the environmental impacts of mining and Have also done this to fight against the practice in the court. “It is very satisfying to see positive changes taking place in many villages,” says Gadgil, an inspiration for youth Madhav Gadgil’s extensive contributions to environmental protection have earned him India’s highest civilian honors, the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan. , Tyler Award and Volvo Environment Award. But despite so many honors and achievements, Gadgil has not stopped, he is moving forward. Madhav Gadgil is now helping village youth educate themselves about their community forest rights and build a better understanding of the ecosystem around them. He said a boy, who was trained in taking pictures of plants and using his smartphone Local botanical experts recognized a rare land orchid in the photos she posted. He published a scientific paper on the discovery, with the boy as a co-author. Gadgil believes that with advances in technology and an increase in publicly available scientific information, more communities will be able to exercise their rights. Will be inspired to fight for. This is extremely important for India, which is facing the growing impacts of the climate crisis. He says, “I am satisfied that as a scientist who has been empathetic towards people, I have done things that have prevented events. Helped in changing direction. I am a staunch optimist – and I am confident that this progress will continue to gain momentum.” Gadgil says, “Communities are exercising their rights over their land and natural resources. They are organizing, and we need to work with them. We have to continue on the path of inclusive development and conservation.”