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Ramesh is the managing trustee of Junglescapes Charitable Trust and one of its founder trustees. He is also a member of the Project Governance Committee. After a corporate career of over 20 years with Unilever, Ramesh opted for early retirement in 2006 to pursue his passion for wildlife conservation. Over the last 13 years he has been involved full-time in ecological restoration of degraded forests in the Western Ghats region of India, a global biodiversity hotspot.
Ramesh is an active member of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), the premier global body on restoration. He is the regional representative for Asia on the Board of Directors of SER. Since January 2019 he is a member of the Expert Committee on Invasive Species constituted by the High Court of Madras for addressing the challenge of invasive species in Tamil Nadu.
Ramesh is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner under the SER certification program, the first Indian to get this certification. He is also a trained naturalist and has also undergone formal training in biodiversity assessment, plant biology and management of invasive plant species. He was the Principal Investigator for a CEPF-grant project on management of Lantana camara during 2013-16, as part of CEPF’s Western Ghats initiative.
Ramesh is active in spreading awareness about ecological restoration and has been a speaker at many conferences at the national and international levels. He has also participated in Forest Policy revision exercises in India. In 2017 Junglescapes was awarded the “Full Circle Award” by SER, the first Indian NGO to receive this global award given biennially in recognition of pioneering initiatives that involve indigenous communities and their traditional knowledge in ecological restoration.
Krishnamohan is a founder trustee of Junglescapes Charitable Trust. He is a post graduate from
Osmania University. Between 1976 and 1995 he worked as a systems manager with companies like
with Schlumberger (Saudi Arabia) and GNP Hospital (Jeddah). From 1996 till 2003 Krishnamohan
ran an IT firm in Bangalore involved in digitisation of paper (city and town) maps.
Krishnamohan has a keen interest in wildlife and nature and has attended the Naturalist workshop
conducted by Jungle Lodges and Resorts, Bangalore. His other interests are aero-modelling and
photography. He lives in Bangalore. He takes care of policy matters and external communications of
Junglescapes.
Bhanu is a member of the Project Governance Committee of Junglscapes. She brings to Junglescapes
her rich experience of over 3 decades in public service, particularly in the areas of voluntary blood
donation and education. As the managing trustee of the Madras Voluntary Blood Bureau (MVBB),
Bhanu oversees projects with various hospitals and corporates. She is also a Trustee on a few more
non-profits that are active in the health and education sectors. Her experience in these roles has shown
her that the best results can be had from focused and sustained grassroots work. She also believes
strongly in the adage 'small is beautiful'.
Her personal interest in nature and bio-diversity has gradually grown into a deep desire to preserve the
remaining wild spaces on earth. Junglescapes has given her a perfect avenue and opportunity to
realize this dream. She uses her vast experience in the social sector towards Junglescapes’ strategy
formulation and execution so as to help its journey through its growth phase.
Gopakumar is a management post-graduate from the Indian Institute of Management,
Bangalore with a particular interest in two Es - Ecology and Economics. He worked as
an investment professional in two venture funds over an eleven-year period, nurturing
early-stage businesses. Since 2002, he is a corporate trainer on “Influencing Stakeholders
and Negotiation skills”.
Gopakumar co-founded Nityata River Otter Conservancy in 2012 to apply influencing
skills to the conservation of wildlife and their habitats. His principal work is on otter
conservation in South India through improvement in their river habitats, and addressing
related threats like untreated effluents, dynamite fishing, degradation of riparian buffers,
etc. He was also instrumental in creating a sanctuary for the critically endangered long-
billed vultures, near Ramanagaram in South India, in 2009.
Gopakumar is largely a self-taught ecologist who brings to bear his extensive
management experience to ecological conservation. He is one of the few conservationists
from India who has completed the prestigious Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program
(ELP) at the University of California, Berkeley.
Pratima is a multi-faceted person with a deep passion for wildlife and its conservation. She has been an integral part of Junglescapes since its inception in 2006.
She started her career as a teacher in a prestigious school in Chennai. She then went on to volunteer with the Madras Voluntary Blood Bank in its formative years and worked tirelessly to build awareness about blood donation when the concept was almost unknown. In a short span of time she helped create a large volunteer donor base in Chennai among the public and corporate employees. She was honored for her efforts by the Blood Bank with a citation and medal.
Pratima’s love for art led her to pursue a course at the Madras Museum on Restoration and Conservation of Old Objects, and present a dissertation on old paintings.
Over the last sixteen years, Pratima has followed her heart and visited almost all wildlife reserves in India to learn more about their ecology and conservation status. She has chronicled the fabulous experiences of her wildlife travels in a book titled “Tiger Trails and Beyond” which was released in March 2016. The book shares unique insights into almost all sanctuaries in India and is an excellent resource for all nature lovers.
Pratima has completed the Naturalists’ Course conducted by Jungle Lodges, Bangalore. She is actively involved in spreading the message of conservation amongst people who are new to wildlife and its challenges. She is part of the Volunteer Co-ordination Committee of Junglescapes and helps implement volunteering programs.
Dr. K. Anand is a member of the Project Governance Committee of Junglscapes. He is a Materials
Scientist by education. He is an alumni of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and has a
doctorate from North Carolina University, USA, and has over 40 US patents in his technical field. He
works for GE at their Technology Centre in Bangalore.
Anand is passionately interested in wildlife conservation and restoration of degraded habitats. By
combining scientific and data driven restoration approaches with a nimble “what works from a
community livelihood” perspective, he has been instrumental in implementing a number of innovative
ecological restoration approaches. Anand has a strong scientific impetus and visits the project sites
frequently to monitor habitat health, vegetation trends, efficacy of rain water management efforts, etc.
When he is at home he uses Google Earth to leverage satellite imagery for restoration work.
Anand also leads the volunteering efforts of employees at GE in the area of ecological conservation
and engages actively with the company’s leadership to garner sponsorship for these efforts. These
efforts helped pioneer the concept of corporate engagement in wildlife conservation almost a decade
before the current CSR mandates were introduced in India.
Hanumanth is a member of the Project Governance Committee of Junglscapes. An Engineer by
profession he lives in Mysore, the epicentre of wilderness areas in the Western Ghats. This has
inculcated in him a keen interest in the conservation of wildlife and ecology.
As an active Rotarian for over 20 years Hanumanth is actively involved in community service
activities, particularly the administration of the schools supported by the Club. He is associated with
Swamy Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM), a Mysore-based social organisation, where he
teaches underprivileged children. He is also part of a citizen’s group that is devising ways to preserve
Mysore’s rich cultural and architectural heritage.
He is a keen ecology enthusiast and likes visiting different wildlife sanctuaries in his free time to
observe their unique characteristics. He brings to Junglescapes his experience and skills in the area of
local stakeholder engagement, mainly with local communities and forest administrators. He has also
participated in Forest Policy revision exercises in India.
Sathisha is a Materials Scientist working for GE. Being born on the edge of Western Ghats region his
inclination to nature and conservation was a bygone conclusion. Being an active volunteer through his
college days he picked up the skills to communicate with communities and bring about positive
change.
GE's volunteer program provided him the opportunity to develop himself into a naturalist and a lead
volunteer for their project in Bandipur. He has been active in the livelihood programs of Junglescapes
particularly in areas of communication with local communities, building community self-management
structures, finding new eco-based livelihood avenues, etc. An avid birdwatcher and a budding
photographer, he has chronicled the winged beauties around Junglescapes’ project areas.
Dr. K. Anand is a member of the Project Governance Committee of Junglscapes. He is a Materials Scientist by education. He is an alumni of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and has a doctorate from North Carolina University, USA, and has over 40 US patents in his technical field. He works for GE at their Technology Centre in Bangalore.
Anand is passionately interested in wildlife conservation and restoration of degraded habitats. By combining scientific and data driven restoration approaches with a nimble “what works from a community livelihood”
perspective, he has been instrumental in implementing a number of innovative ecological restoration approaches. Anand has a strong scientific
impetus and visits the project sites frequently to monitor habitat health, vegetation trends, efficacy of rain water management efforts, etc. When he
is at home he uses Google Earth to leverage satellite imagery for restoration work.
Anand also leads the volunteering efforts of employees at GE in the area of ecological conservation and engages actively with the company’s leadership to garner sponsorship for these efforts. These efforts helped
pioneer the concept of corporate engagement in wildlife conservation almost a decade before the current CSR mandates were introduced in India.
Sathisha is a Materials Scientist working for GE. Being born on the edge of Western Ghats region his inclination to nature and conservation was a bygone conclusion. Being an active volunteer through his college days he picked up the skills to communicate with communities and bring about positive change.
GE's volunteer program provided him the opportunity to develop himself into a naturalist and a lead volunteer for their project in Bandipur. He has been active in the livelihood programs of Junglescapes particularly in areas of communication with local communities, building community self-management structures, finding new eco-based livelihood avenues, etc.
An avid birdwatcher and a budding photographer, he has chronicled the winged beauties around Junglescapes’ project areas. He is currently working on initiatives for involving local communities in conserving bird habitats by promoting village home stays in and around regions with good bird diversity.
Shalini Arvind grew up in a family of ardent nature and animal lovers and even when very young she imbibed the qualities of compassion and commitment in this vibrant circle of life that interconnects animals and birds and all beautiful creatures of bountiful Nature. Growing up, she utilised every opportunity to put her life learnings into practical advantage to help those around her especially the weak and the underprivileged. Shalini’s area of special interest is helping children from different backgrounds fit into the social framework. Sensitive to the subtle nuances and needs of the environmental demands of birds and animals, she has carefully nurtured and housed many wandering cats and dogs and birds and butterflies through the ambience of her garden and surroundings.
Shalini has completed the Naturalist Course conducted by jungle Lodges, Bangalore. Her interest in observing wildlife has made her travel widely to many wilderness areas in India and abroad. She has been an active member of the Junglescapes team since its inception and works on communicating the projects to the general public and potential sponsors.
