K Raman, IFS, 1988 (Retd)
An Indian Forest service officer of 1988 batch, retired on 31 January 2022 after an active service of about 34 years. I had the experience of implementing the flagship national program Green India Mission, one of the eight missions of National Action Plan on Climate Change and the World Bank funded Ecosystem Services Improvement Project (ESIP) in the state of Madhya Pradesh as its Project Director for more than four years. Both the programs focusing on Forest Landscape restoration, Ecosystem service improvement, carbon sequestration and measurement, use of technology for forest health monitoring, including forest cover change monitoring and Biodiversity monitoring apart from capacity building and livelihood enhancement of stakeholders through investment in forest landscapes, identified as vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, across the state of madhya Pradesh.
Livelihood enhancement of forest dependent communities through improved harvesting and primary processing of NTFPs adding to the value of their safety net was a major achievement in GIM and ESIP landscapes. Was Field Director of two tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh namely Bandhavgarh Tiger reserve and Sanjay Dubri Tiger reserve. Was instrumental in starting scientific management and transformation of Sanjay Dubri Tiger reserve from being a mere stepping stone in the tiger landscape to a full-fledged tiger source population. Was also incharge of two iconic sanctuaries namely Son Ghariyal and Bagdara Black Buck Sanctuaries for managing critically endangered species of Ghriyal and Black Buck respectively. In the process introduced and gained the recognition of ecological flow for facilitating optimum water release mechanism from the dams for facilitating the breeding of Ghariyals, Gangetic soft shell turtle and Indian Skimmers. As a working plan officer, prepared the working plan for the Kuno wildlife division, Sheopur which included the management plan for the Kuno wildlife sanctuary with a focus of reintroduction of Asiatic lions as its second home. Have been taking baby steps in avifauna and butterfly surveys trying to be one with nature by capturing its beauty through lens.