Ashish Kothari
Born	15 August 1961
Nationality	Indian
Citizenship	Indian
Alma mater	University of Delhi
Known for	Kalpavriksh
Scientific career
Fields	Ecology, Environment, Development
Institutions	Greenpeace, Indian Institute of Public Administration

Ashish Kothari is an Indian environmentalist working on development, environment interface, biodiversity policy,^[1] and alternatives.^[2][3] He is one of founders of Kalpavriksh, a Non-Profit Organisation in India which deals with environmental and development issues.^[4] He has been associated with peoples' movements like Narmada Bachao Andolan and Beej Bachao Andolan. Kothari has also been a teacher of environment at Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi.^[5] He has also been a guest faculty at several universities and institutes and Mellon Fellow at Bowdoin College, USA.

Ashish Kothari has been a member of Steering Committees of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy (CEESP)^[6] from 1998 to 2008 .He has also been a co-chair IUCN Inter-commission Strategic Direction on Governance, Equity, and Livelihoods in Relation to Protected Areas (TILCEPA) from 1998 to 2008. Ashish Kothari has also served on the steering group or governing board of the CBD (Convention on Biodiversity) Alliance, the ICCA Consortium, and Greenpeace International. At present, he is the chairman Greenpeace India's Board.^[7]

Ashish Kothari has also worked as members of several Government of India committees, including Environmental Appraisal Committee on River Valley Projects of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the committee to Assess Implementation of the Forest Rights Act, and Committees to draft design the National Wildlife Action Plan and India's Biological Diversity Act.^[8] He coordinated the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan process in India commissioned by the Government of India. Kothari is currently coordinating the Vikalp Sangam (Alternatives Confluence) process which provides a forum for organisations and individuals working on development alternatives across India to come together.^[9] Since early 2016 Ashish is co-coordinator of the Academic-Activist Co-produced Knowledge for Environmental Justice (ACKnowl-EJ) project, an international, multi-partner process sponsored by the International Social Science Council.^[10] In 2019 he co-created the Global Tapestry of Alternatives process.^[11]

Ashish Kothari has authored and co-authored a few books on India's Environment, birds and biodiversity.

Education

Ashish Kothari is a graduate in Sociology from Hindu College, University of Delhi in 1983. He subsequently pursued master's of arts in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi in 1985.^[12]

Publications

Books

• Kothari, Ashish. 1993. Beyond the Biodiversity Convention: A View from India. Biopolicy International 13. ACTS Press, Nairobi. Pp. v+37. ISBN 9966-41-0635.
• Kothari, Ashish, Singh, Neena, and Suri, Saloni (eds). 1996. People and Protected Areas in India: Towards Participatory Conservation. Sage Publications, New Delhi. Pp. 276, 1 map. ISBN 0-8039-9333-1 (US-hb); 0-8039-9334-X (US-pb); 81-7036-568-6 (India-hb); 81-7036-569-4 (India-pb).
• Kothari, Ashish. 1997. Understanding Biodiversity: Life, Equity, and Sustainability. Orient Longman, Tracts for the Times, New Delhi. Pp. xv+161. ISBN 81-250-0976-0
• Kothari, Ashish, Vania, Farhad, Das, Priya, Christopher, K., and Jha, S. 1998. Building Bridges for Conservation: Towards Joint Management of Protected Areas in India. Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. Reprint by Nataraj Publishers, Dehra Dun. ISBN 81-8158-030-3.
• Kothari, Ashish, Pathak, Neema, Anuradha, R.V, and Taneja, Bansuri (eds.). 1998. Communities and Conservation: Natural Resource Management in South and Central Asia. Sage Publications and UNESCO, New Delhi. Pp. 508, 3 maps, 5 illustrations. ISBN 0-7619-9279-0 (US-hb); 0-7619-9280-4 (US-pb); 81-7036-739-5 (India-hb); 81-7036-740-9 (India-pb)
• Upadhyay, Sanjay and Kothari, Ashish. 2001. National Parks and Sanctuaries in India: A Guide to Legal Provisions. Print World, Allahabad. Pp. ix+68.
• Saberwal, Vasant, Rangarajan, Mahesh, and Kothari, Ashish. 2001. People, Parks and Wildlife: Towards Co-existence. Orient Longman, Tracts for the Times, New Delhi. ISBN 81-250-1980-4
• Borrini-Feyerabend, Grazia, Kothari, Ashish, and Oviedo, Gonzalo. 2004. Indigenous and Local Communities and Protected Areas: Towards Equity and Enhanced Conservation. IUCN and Cardiff University Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines No. 11. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. Xviii+111pp. ISBN 2-8317-0675-0
• Borrini-Feyerabend Grazia, Pimbert, Michel, Farvar, Taghi, Kothari, Ashish, and Renard, Yves. 2004. Sharing Power: Learning by doing in Co-Management of Natural Resources throughout the World. International Institute of Environment and Development and IUCN/CEEESP/CMWG, Cenesta, Teheran. Reprinted by Earthscan, London, in 2007. ISBN 978-1-84407-497-6
• Lockwood, Michael, Worboys, Graeme, and Kothari, Ashish. (eds.). 2006. Protected Area Management: A Global Guide. Earthscan, London. ISBN 978-1-84407-303-0
• Amend, T., Brown, J., Kothari, A., Phillips, A. and Stolton, S. (eds). 2008. Protected Landscapes and Agrobiodiversity Values. Volume 1 in the series Values of Protected Landscapes and Seascapes. IUCN and GTZ, Kasparak Verlag, Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-92506448-7
• Kothari, A. 2007. Birds in Our Lives. Universities Press, Hyderabad. ISBN 978-81-7371-586-0; 10: 81-7371-586-6
• Shrivastava, A. and Kothari, A. 2012. Churning the Earth: The Making of Global India. Viking/Penguin, New Delhi. ISBN 9780143422709
• Kothari, A. with Corrigan, C., Jonas, H., Neumann, A., and Shrumm, H. (eds). 2012. Recognising and Supporting Territories and Areas Conserved By Indigenous Peoples And Local Communities: Global Overview and National Case Studies. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, ICCA Consortium, Kalpavriksh, and Natural Justice, Montreal, Canada. Technical Series no. 64, 160 pp. ISBN 92-9225-426-X (print); 92-9225-425-1 (web version)
• Kothari, A. 2014. Wildlife in a City Pond. Pratham Books, Bangalore. ISBN 978-81-8479-539-4. (translated into 5 other languages, including कोठारी, अ, २०१४, शहरी ताल का जादू, पथम बुक्स, बेनगलोर, ISBN 978-81-8479-540-0)
• Worboys, G., Lockwood, M., Kothari, A., Feary, S. and Pulsford, I. (eds). 2015. Protected Area Governance and Management. ANU Press, Canberra. ISBN 9781925021684 (paperback); 9781925021691 (ebook)
• Kothari, A. 2015. Shero to the Rescue. Kalpavriksh, Pune. ISBN 9788187945642
• Shrivastava, A. and Kothari, A. 2016. Prithvi Manthan (Hindi). Rajkamal Paperbacks, Delhi. ISBN 978-81-267-2938-8.
• Kothari, A. and Joy, KJ (eds). 2017. Alternative Futures: India Unshackled. AuthorsUpFront, Delhi. ISBN 978-81-933924-7-8

Presentations

• 2nd Sanjay Ghose Peace Chair lecture, Bikaner, 4.7.2013
• Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Lecture, RTM Nagpur University, Nagpur, India, 1.12.2014
• Inaugural address at Fireflies Dialogue on 'Sustainable Journeys', Bengaluru, India, 5.2.2016
• Keynote address at '5th International Degrowth Conference', Budapest, Hungary,2.9.2016
• Inaugural speech, Orientation program, M.A in Environmental Studies,
• Malayalam University, Pune, India, 24.3.2017
• Keynote address at 'Buen Vivir and other Postdevelopment Pathways', University of Florida Center for Latin American Studies 67th Annual Conference, Gainesville, USA, 19.3.2018 address at 'National Workshop on Human Rights and Environment', Ramanujan College, Delhi, India, 14.3.2018
• Keynote address at '2nd Biannual Conference of Political Ecology Network (POLLEN) 2018', Oslo, Norway, 21.6.2018