1. Remembering Madhav Gadgil's life and works. see for instance his [Tyler Prize Laureate Lecture](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT4IIh-_Ew0) where he discusses his lifelong work in ecology, specifically focusing on the intersection of scientific methodology, traditional knowledge, and community-based environmental management in India......human occupation & dominance of the cognitive niche (via Pinker?), science as an "organized enterprise of skepticism", "its rejection of authority in favour of empirical facts, making it a democratic and liberating system...and the historical context of this pre-dating "modern science" with India's (and many other societies') long tradition of skepticism (referencing Gautama Buddha).... His trenchant criticism of "Scientific" Forest Management as a tool of domination...rooted in British colonial introduction of "scientific" forest management, arguing it was often used as a tool for state control rather than sustainability. His assertions based on his research, that many official "forest working plans" were based on bogus or deliberately falsified data designed to grant cheap resources to industries, such as paper mills, at the expense of local communities and his deep value for experiential ecological knowledge held by local people, which sometimes far exceeded academic experts.....and of course his strong support for [Adivasi self-assertion and Forest Rights Act (2006)](https://kaanu.daktre.com/Adivasi+self-assertion+in+Nagarhole) rooted in correcting the "historical injustice" of state-controlled forests by returning management rights to local communities. (see [[Kaanu]]) <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XT4IIh-_Ew0?si=jCmLA5nACizfHXDb" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> Last updated: 2026-01-09 13:46