Ruchi Badola is a professor and scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun in the Department of Eco-development Planning and Participatory Management. Ruchi specialises in community participation in biodiversity conservation, ecological economics, assessment of ecosystem services, sustainable livelihood, and gender issues in conservation.

Ruchi also plays a phenomenal role in developing and implementing training programmes to build the skills of state forest departments and other stakeholders. She leads the ​“Pravasi Ganga Prahari” which is a platform for global citizens to contribute towards Ganga Cleanliness and Rejuvenation under National Mission for Clean Ganga vision.

Renu Singh is an officer of the Indian Forest Service of the 1990 batch, belonging to Madhya Pradesh cadre. She has joined as Director, FRI. 

She is well-read and has a bouquet of higher educational qualification to her credit. She holds an MSc degree in Botany and Forestry as well as M Phil in Botany from Meerut University, Meerut. 

She was awarded PhD on Gender, Participation and community forestry: The case of joint forest management in Madhya Pradesh, by the University of Wales, United Kingdom. Before joining FRI as Director, she was working as Additional Managing Director of Madhya Pradesh Forest Development Corporation at Bhopal and has wide experience of working in various capacities in Government of Madhya Pradesh.

Renu Singh has an extensive experience in Forest Policy, Forest Management and Research issues. She has special interest in gender and development, climate change adaptation and mitigation issues in the forestry sector. 

She has participated and represented various biodiversity, forest and climate change-related issues in international conventions like United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

As a field practitioner, she has vast experience in implementing joint forest management practices involving rural communities and addressing their livelihood-related needs from the forest while working in Madhya Pradesh Forest Department.

Chandi Prasad Bhatt is an Indian environmentalist and social activist known for his contributions to the Chipko movement. He was born on 23 June 1934, in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India. The Chipko movement, also known as the Chipko Andolan, was a grassroots environmental movement in the 1970s that aimed to protect forests from deforestation.

CP Bhatt (as he is popularly known) played a significant role in organising and mobilising the local communities, especially women, to protect the forests in the Himalayan region. The movement was named ​“Chipko” because the participants hugged the trees to prevent them from being cut down by loggers.

CP Bhatt’s efforts in the Chipko movement brought attention to the importance of forests and the rights of local communities in natural resource management. The movement also highlighted the need for sustainable development and the protection of the environment.

For his contributions to environmental conservation and social activism, Chandi Prasad Bhatt was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1982 and the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian awards, in 2005. He continues to be involved in environmental issues and social causes in Uttarakhand.

Ruskin Bond is a renowned Indian author of British descent, known for his works of fiction and non-fiction in English. Born on May 19, 1934, in Kasauli, Punjab (now in Himachal Pradesh), Bond spent his childhood in different parts of India due to his father’s job in the Royal Air Force.

His writing often explores themes of love, loss, nature, and the complexities of human relationships. His love for nature is evident in many of his works, where he describes the beauty of the mountains, forests, and rivers of India.

He has received numerous accolades for his work, including the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Padma Shri, and the Padma Bhushan.