Remembering The Ecologist Whose Ideas Shape Our Lakes & Green Spaces

When news broke of the passing of veteran ecologist Madhav Gadgil, it felt like the loss of someone many urban Indians may not have met, but whose ideas quietly shape the air we breathe, the lakes we walk around, and the green spaces we hope our children will inherit. 

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Gadgil’s work was never about distant forests alone. It was about people and the belief that nature can only survive if communities are trusted to protect it.

At a time when sustainability often feels wrapped in jargon and policy reports, Gadgil’s legacy offers something far more relatable: the idea that environmental care begins locally, with everyday participation.

Two of his most enduring contributions, helping establish India’s first biosphere reserve in the Nilgiris, and championing People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs), show why his thinking remains deeply relevant today.

The Nilgiris: proving conservation can include people 

In the 1980s, conservation in India was largely driven by exclusion. Protect forests, keep people out, that was the dominant thinking. 

Gadgil challenged this approach while playing a key role in shaping the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India’s first such reserve, which spanned Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka.

What made the Nilgiris different was not just its rich biodiversity, but the way it recognised human presence as part of the ecosystem. Indigenous communities like the Todas, Kurumbas, and Irulas had lived here for generations, shaping and sustaining the landscape through their knowledge, grazing practices, and mindful forest use.

Rather than treating them as threats, the biosphere reserve model acknowledged that conservation and livelihoods could coexist.

For urban readers, the lesson can be surprisingly familiar, if seen closely. Just as a neighbourhood park thrives when residents care for it by watching, watering, and questioning encroachments, large ecosystems survive when locals have a stake in them.  

The Nilgiris showed India that protecting nature does not have to mean erasing human lives from the picture. It can mean designing systems where both flourish together.

What are People’s Biodiversity Registers and why they matter 

If the Nilgiris showed where conservation could happen differently, People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) showed how.

Gadgil strongly advocated for PBRs as living documents created by indigenous communities to record their biodiversity, be it native plants, medicinal herbs, fish species, water sources, farming practices, and wildlife. 

Instead of experts parachuting in with clipboards, villagers themselves documented what they knew.

This moved knowledge and power from distant institutions to local people. By documenting their own biodiversity, communities could protect traditional knowledge, track ecosystem health, and make informed decisions about land, water, and shared natural resources.

For an urban reader, imagine this translated into city life: residents mapping trees on their street, documenting seasonal birds around a lake, or recording flooding patterns after every monsoon. 

When communities know what they have, they are better equipped to protect it.

Today’s citizen-led lake revivals, tree census drives, and neighbourhood composting groups echo Gadgil’s core belief that care grows from connection.

A life that bridged science and society 

Born in 1942, Madhav Gadgil was trained as a scientist, but never confined himself to laboratories. Over a long academic career, including his time at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, he became known not just for ecological expertise, but for his deep respect for people’s knowledge.

Those who knew Madhav Gadgil remember him as someone equally comfortable discussing biodiversity with researchers and farmers alike. 

Ecologist and author Harini Nagendra, his former student, described him as the reason she stayed in science. Nagendra, author of ‘Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future’, traces her career to a chance talk in 1993. It was here that Gadgil spoke of place-based, people-centred research — and then agreed, without hesitation, to mentor her when she asked. 

Why his ideas matter more than ever

As Indian cities grapple with shrinking green spaces, drying lakes, heatwaves, and floods, Gadgil’s ideas feel urgent rather than historical. He reminded us that sustainability is not a top-down command, it is a shared responsibility. 

For everyday Indians, especially urban residents feeling overwhelmed by climate conversations, Gadgil’s legacy offers clarity: start where you are. Learn your local ecology. Care for shared spaces. Ask questions. Participate.

Because environmental protection doesn’t begin in global summits. As Madhav Gadgil spent a lifetime showing us, it begins at home — with people.

Sources 

‘Who was Madhav Gadgil? Scientist who helped establish India’s first biosphere reserve, UNEP awardee, passes away at 83’: by Ardhra Nai for The Times of India, Published on 8 January 2026

‘Renowned ecologist Madhav Gadgil passes away’: Staff Report for Onmanorama, Published on 8 January 2026

‘Madhav Gadgil: Ecologist who returned from Harvard to shape India’s green future wins UN’s highest honour’: by Amrita Priya for Global Indian, Published on 18 December 2024

‘Role of locals essential in protecting environment: Ecologist Madhav Gadgil’: Alind Chauhan for The Indian Express, Published on 21 December 2024

‘Madhav Gadgil, ecologist who championed conservation of fragile Western Ghats, passes away’: by Express Web Desk for The Indian Express, Published on 8 January 2026