Dr. Atul Kumar Gupta

Dr. Atul Kumar Gupta, IFS (Retd.), is PhD from the University of Cambridge on commonwealth Fellowship, MSc in Zoology, M.A. in Sociology, MSc (Forestry & Allied Subjects), Masters in Business Administration, Post Graduate (Diploma) in Wildlife Management, Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management, Diploma in Management, and Certificate course in Environmental Conservation, Forest Policy and Conservation from IIM, Bangalore & Maxwell School of Management, Syracuse, USA.

Dr. Gupta served as Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force, Forest Department, Government of Tripura before superannuating on 30th June 2018 on completion of about 36 years of active service. He also served for about ten years as the Chief Wildlife Warden, Tripura; for more than a decade as Member Secretary, Tripura Biodiversity Board; for about 9 years as Vice Chairman, Medicinal Plants Board of Tripura; and for about 8 years as CEO&PD: KfW & GTZ led Indo-German Project on Natural Resource Management & Poverty Alleviation. Dr. Gupta also handled Biodiversity Conservation component of the JICA, Tripura project. Dr. Gupta also served as Registrar & Professor & Head, Department of Population Management, Capture and Rehabilitation at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun and Deputy Director (Wildlife), MOEF, GOI. He has undertaken consultancies with USFWS, WWF, UNDP, GEF, etc. on biodiversity conservation and sustainable economic development.

Dr. Gupta also worked as Senior Professional Fellow at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun for a period of one-year post-retirement from February 2019 to January 2020.

Dr. Gupta has also contributed in different capacities, such as, Chairman, Appellate Authority, State Pollution Control Board, Govt. of Tripura; Head, IT and GIS Cell, Forest Department; Member-secretary, State Level Monitoring Committee on Clean Development Mechanism; Head, Tribal Cell; Mission Director, State Rubber Mission; Mission Director (State), National Bamboo Mission; Chairman, State Level Technical Advisory Committee on Development of Wetlands in Tripura & Member, Wetland Authority of Tripura; Head, Forest Statistics & Publications Unit; Nodal Officer, State Forest Development Agencies; Nodal officer, Development of Bio-Fuel Sector; Member-Secretary, State Level Steering Committee on CAMPA; Chairman, State Level Advisory Committee to implement “Action Plan for Conservation of Vultures in India”; Member, Executive Committee, State Skill Development Mission & Chairman, Skill Cell of Forest Department; Chairman, Committee to protect and preserve the ecosystems and environmental balance of all the water bodies in the State; Chairman, State Level Committee on Formulation of Action Plans on SDGs, etc.

Dr Gupta has been involved in Conservation and management of wildlife with special emphasis on the economic welfare of people through sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits; Academic and applied research on non-human primates and their roles in conservation of natural resources as a flagship species and has been pioneer on studying conservation and ecology of primates vis-à-vis biotic pressures with special reference to the shifting cultivation; Recovery plans for endangered species such as clouded leopard; Man-animal conflict issues involving monkey, bear, Indian bison and landscape level conservation measures for elephants; Eco-development, ecotourism, and conservation breeding programs on 4 endangered species; Natural resource management (NRM) including floral and faunal diversity through implementation of the Biodiversity Act; Ex-situ and in-situ conservation of medicinal plants through infusion of traditional knowledge with advanced scientific techniques; Project management in rural development, environment protection and NRM sectors; Management Planning, forestry and wildlife sectors involving livelihood improvement of rural poor and tribal population; HRM to empower local people and other stakeholders including women in government/Semi-government/Project establishments through trainings, capacity building, seminars and workshops.He has actively collaborated with several national and international organizations for technology infusion, capacity building and policy development in the NRM sector.

Dr. Gupta brings in interdisciplinary working experience and expertise gained as an administrator, academician and researcher while occupying various portfolios for initiating and establishing a system of integrated/interdisciplinary approach to bracing up existing landscape level strategies for conservation and management of forestry and wildlife resources. Dr. Gupta has more than 155 publications to his credit, including research articles (peer reviewed and popular), edited books, chapters, project reports on natural resource management, empowerment, participatory management, forestry and wildlife conservation, sustainable development, etc.