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| K.K.Nair, Kozhikode |
An endangered species among those engaged in the conservation of forests is the upright Government official. One of the most effective conservators, who played a proactive role in effective forest management, is 85-year-old K.K.Nair, former Chief Conservator of Forests.
His valuable contributions include role in setting up and developing Eravikulam, a habitat of the endangered Nilgiri Tahr, and the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. He was also instrumental in establishing the Teak Museum at Nilambur and the Kerala Forestry Research Institute at Peechi.
However, he considers the best years of his career as the time when he worked as a teacher at the forest training colleges at Dehradun and Coimbatore. “Moving with young people and orienting them to the profession was a highly fulfilling experience.”
Nair, who bagged the Sclich Memorial Prize for the best student, awarded by the Commonwealth Forest Institute, Oxford in 1962-63, had begun his career in the Department in the erstwhile Madras Presidency in 1947, before being inducted into the State service in the 1960s.
He had passed out from the Indian Forestry College, Dehradun and had served as Secretary, Forest Commission, New Delhi also.
Courtesy:
Maleeha Raghaviah (text),
The Hindu, July 22, 2006
Contributed by: Administrator
