Ahmedabad

Renown naturalist and bird expert Lavkumar Khachar is no more.

He will be remembered for his long term contribution to spreading awareness about nature, especially ornithology.

Born into the royal family of Jasdan in Saurashtra, educated at Rajkumar College, Rajkot, where he started his career teaching Bio Sciences and Geography in 1956 after B.Sc. Honours from St.Stephen’s College, Delhi University.

The Board of World Wildlife Fund-India gave him the responsibility of conceiving and initiating its Education and Youth Movement in 1976.

Hingolgadh Nature Education Sanctuary, on the banks of Bhadar river, in the vicinity of Jasdan created by the royal family of Jasdan offers nature education camps to create awareness about wildlife and environment.

In 1984 Lavkumar took charge as the Director of the Nature Discovery Centre at the Centre for Environment Education (CEE). Mr. He started the wild-life movement firstly in the Gir forest and his base was “Sundarvan” located in Ahmedabad.

He was instrumental in declaring the Gulf of Kutch Islands as the first marine national park in India.

The beautiful property of Hinglaj Farm overlooking the Beas River in the Himalayas had been his home for the last 25 years. From this home he as launched the nature conservation education and camping movement that has been replicated nationwide by other nature lovers. The Hingolgadh Nature Conservation Education program (HNCEP) has been instrumental in opening the eyes of nature lovers to the outdoor life in India and in turn contributing to the local economy without threatening the local culture.

Mr. Khachar was the recipient of the following awards for his dedication to Nature Education:

-The Salim Ali – Loke Wan Tho Lifetime Award for Excellence in Ornithology for his pioneering work in ornithology and on the Nanda Devi National Park.
-Certificate of Merit awarded by His Royal Highness Prince Philip for his contribution in initiating the Youth Education Movement and developing the Nature Camps for WWF-India.
In 2004, he was awarded the Venu Menon Lifetime Achievement Award.