When we stroll around revitalized urban lakes, participate in neighborhood tree-planting drives, or join community efforts to protect local green spaces, we're walking in the footsteps of a visionary who believed ordinary people could be extraordinary stewards of nature. Madhav Gadgil, who passed away on January 7, 2026, at age 83, leaves behind a living legacy that continues to shape how India approaches conservation—one community at a time.

Gadgil's brilliance lay not in keeping nature separate from people, but in bringing them together. At a time when environmental protection meant fencing off forests and keeping communities out, he championed a revolutionary idea: the people who live closest to nature are often its best protectors.

This philosophy came alive in India's first biosphere reserve in the Nilgiris, spanning Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. Rather than displacing indigenous communities like the Todas, Kurumbas, and Irulas who had lived harmoniously with the land for generations, the reserve recognized them as essential partners in conservation. Their traditional knowledge, sustainable practices, and deep connection to the ecosystem weren't obstacles to overcome—they were strengths to celebrate and preserve.

The result? A thriving model that proved conservation and community livelihoods could flourish side by side. Today, the Nilgiris stands as a testament to what becomes possible when we trust people to care for their environment.

Perhaps even more transformative was Gadgil's advocacy for People's Biodiversity Registers—community-created documents where villagers recorded their local plants, medicinal herbs, water sources, and wildlife. Instead of waiting for distant experts, communities became the experts themselves, documenting and protecting their traditional knowledge while tracking the health of their ecosystems.

This grassroots approach is blossoming across urban India today. Citizens are mapping neighborhood trees, monitoring bird populations around city lakes, documenting seasonal changes, and organizing to protect shared green spaces. Every community composting initiative, every resident-led lake cleanup, every neighborhood biodiversity walk echoes Gadgil's core belief: environmental care grows from connection.

Harini Nagendra, now an acclaimed ecologist and author, credits a chance encounter with Gadgil in 1993 for inspiring her entire career. His willingness to mentor, his respect for local knowledge, and his passion for place-based research didn't just shape scientific thinking—it shaped lives and careers dedicated to making India greener.

As cities face environmental challenges from heat waves to flooding, Gadgil's vision feels more relevant than ever. He showed us that sustainability isn't about overwhelming policy documents or distant international summits. It's about starting where you are, learning about your local ecosystem, caring for shared spaces, asking questions, and participating.

His legacy lives on every time a community successfully revives a lake, when residents successfully advocate for protecting neighborhood trees, when schools create biodiversity registers, when ordinary citizens become environmental champions. Gadgil proved that protecting nature doesn't require credentials or authority—it requires connection, knowledge, and care.

The air we breathe, the parks where our children play, the green spaces that cool our cities—these carry forward the work of someone who believed in the power of communities to shape a sustainable future. That's not just a legacy to mourn; it's an inspiration to continue building.