Renowned Ecologist Madhav Gadgil Passes Away at Age 82 in Pune

One of India’s most renowned ecologists, Madhav Dhananjay Gadgil, passed away on 7 January, 2026 at his residence in Pune after a brief illness. He was 82 years old.

• One of India’s most renowned and influential ecologists, Madhav Dhananjay Gadgil, passed away on the night of 7 January, 2026 at his residence in Pune after a brief illness. He was 82 years old.
• Mr. Gadgil chaired the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, also known as the Gadgil Committee, which submitted its report to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2011.

Contribution to the establishment of IISc, Bengaluru

• Mr. Gadgil was closely associated with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.), Bengaluru. He helped in the establishment of the Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES) in 1983.
• CES states on its website, “CES was born out of ecological research initiated by Madhav Gadgil at the Centre for Theoretical Studies, which he joined in 1973 in the then Centre for Theoretical Studies (CTS). He obtained his Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University with a thesis in Mathematical Ecology. Madhav conducted research in both theoretical biology and field ecology.”
• CES further said that Mr. Gadgil started field studies in 1974 on the dry deciduous forest ecosystem in the newly established Bandipur Tiger Reserve, which was full of man-made ponds and large open areas covered with grass.

Contribution to the establishment of the country’s first biosphere reserve

• In 1986, the country’s first biosphere reserve, the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, was established. Elephants were a special part of the wildlife of this region, and Madhav Gadgil organised the first census of wild elephants in the country in these areas.
• Beyond academic publications, Gadgil wrote “A Walk Up the Hill - Living with People and Nature”, which was an autobiography that combined personal narrative with environmental philosophy.

Major awards

• He received prestigious honours such as the Padma Shri (1981) and the Padma Bhushan (2006).
• Madhav Gadgil received the United Nations Champions of the Earth Award (Lifetime Achievement Category) in 2024, he was given this honour for his great contribution to environmental science, especially for his work on the Western Ghats.
• Gadgil received the Volvo Environment Prize and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.
• Gadgil was born on 24 May, 1942 in Pune in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. His parents were Pramila and Dhananjay Ramchandra Gadgil, who were Cambridge scholars, economists, former director of the Gokhale Institute and author of the Gadgil Formula.