M.K. Ranjitsinh

M.K. Ranjitsinh belongs to the royal family of Wankaner. He joined the IAS in 1961. As collector of Mandla, MP, he helped save the central Indian barasingha from extinction. As secretary, forests and tourism, in MP, he established fourteen new sanctuaries, eight new national parks and more than doubled the area of three existing national parks, a total addition of over 9000 sq. km. to the protected areas of the nation. He was the prime architect of the Wildlife (Protection) Act; was director of wildlife preservation twice and additional secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forests. He was member secretary of the task force which initiated Project Tiger and he also initiated Project Snow Leopard; he helped save the Manipur sangai and other endangered species. The eastern subspecies of the barasingha is named after him. He worked with UNEP as senior regional advisor in Nature Conservation for the Asia-Pacific region. He has published numerous articles and two books, Beyond the Tiger and The Indian Blackbuck.

He has been awarded the Order of the Golden Ark by the Netherlands for ‘outstanding work on behalf of international conservation both in India and in South East Asia’; the Global 500 Roll of Honour of UNEP ‘in recognition of outstanding practical achievements in the protection and improvement of the environment’, and a number of other awards.