India, Jan. 9 -- 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.

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 awarded the Padma Shri in 1981 and the Padma Bhushan in 2006. He is survived by a son and a daughter.

"I am very sorry to share the sad news that my father, Madhav Gadgil, passed away late last night in Pune afte...