Madhav Gadgil: Green warrior, and a lasting conservation legacy

Gadgil also held a keen interest in linguistic and cultural diversity and was awarded the Padma Shri in 1981 and the Padma Bhushan in 2006

Pioneering ecologist Madhav Dhananjaya Gadgil, whose seminal report on the protection of the Western Ghats in 2011 warned against the pillaging of the environment and whose bottom-up approach to conservation prioritised marginalised communities in the battle against the climate crisis, died after a brief illness in Pune on Wednesday night. He was 83.

Madhav Gadgil (HT PHOTO)

Arguably one of the biggest names in conservation and a columnist for this newspaper, Gadgil also held a keen interest in linguistic and cultural diversity and was