Madhav Gadgil on India’s priorities towards conservation, climate and sustainability

All through his career, Madhav Gadgil has worked closely with communities on the ground, roping in researchers, policy-makers, NGOs, farmers, teachers, students and citizens for environmental conservation. His contributions towards saving the Western Ghats and building an inventory to monitor biodiversity in India, among other things, have made him one of the country’s most eminent field ecologists. Gadgil speaks with Divya Shekhar about his newly-released memoir, A Walk Up The Hill, and summarises his decades-long experience of how we interact with the environment, the role of government and bureaucracy, and why there is hope for climate-conscious action in India.