Madhav Gadgil awarded Champions of the Earth Award

Why in news?

• Recently Madhav Gadgil was awarded the Champions of the Earth Award.
• This is the best environmental honor of the United Nations.
  • It is given for his seminal work in the global biodiversity hotspot, Western Ghats.

Madhav Gadgil:

• Madhav Gadgil is an Indian ecologist, educationist, author and founder of the Centre for Ecological Sciences.
• He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1981 and the Padma Bhushan in 2006
  • He has been a former member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India and head of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP)
  • It is known as the Gadgil Commission.

Recommendations of Gadgil Commission -

• It studied the impact of population pressure, climate change and development activities on the ecologically fragile region of India's Western Ghats
• The panel recommended in 2011 that the entire hill range be declared an ecologically sensitive area (ESA)
• The area be divided into three ecologically sensitive zones (ESZ 1, 2 and 3) based on environmental sensitivity.

Champions of the Earth Awards:

• Champions of the Earth is the United Nations' premier global environmental award.
• Started in: 2005
• Established by the United Nations Environment Programme to honour outstanding individuals whose actions have had a positive impact on the environment.