Ecologist who played key role in Western Ghats' conservation

In 2019, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) gave the Salim Ali Award for that year to renowned ecologist Madhav Gadgil, who reminisced then how Ali, India’s legendary ornithologist, known till this day as the ‘birdman of India’, sparked in him an interest in nature that was to last a lifetime.

- ARCHIS MOHAN

Gadgil recounted that as an 11-year-old, with a passing interest in birdwatching, a bird called green bee-eater intrigued him as in one season it had a long pink feather in the middle of its tail, and the next season it was missing.

Gadgil’s father, economist Dhananjaya Ramchandra Gadgil, who was also an avid birdwatcher, a member of the BNHS and knew Ali personally, suggested that his son write to the ornithologist.

“Ali promptly replied to my letter and that’s how my interest peaked,” Gadgil said.

In his 2023 memoir, ‘A Walk Up the Hill’, Gadgil wrote about his association with Ali. “I was captivated by his knowledge, wit and charm — at the age of fourteen, I decided to become a field ecologist like him,” he wrote.