Pune: Veteran Indian ecologist Madhav Dhananjaya Gadgil, one of the nation’s most influential environmental thinkers, has passed away at the age of 83 in Pune on Wednesday night after a brief illness.

A pioneering voice in India’s ecological movement, Gadgil was best known for his leadership in community-based conservation, his founding of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science and his landmark Gadgil Report advocating protection of the Western Ghats — a global biodiversity hotspot.

Over a career spanning six decades, he authored hundreds of scientific papers and several books while shaping key environmental policy, including the Biological Diversity Act and the Forest Rights Act.

Gadgil’s work earned him India’s Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards and, most recently, the United Nations’ Champion of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award. He is remembered as a passionate advocate for sustainable development and a mentor to generations of ecologists.