Shekhar Kumar Niraj

Background

About Shekhar Kumar Niraj

A doctorate degree from the University of Arizona, USA in natural resources studies and a triple masters in Organic Chemistry, Forestry and Metallic Corrosion, I belonged to the Indian Forest Service officer from 1989 batch. Specialized in wildlife management with special focus on international wildlife trade, wildlife crime investigations and policy development. I have held various assignments in forest management, wildlife management and international policies development. I possess specialized skills in wildlife intelligence management, wildlife crime investigations, and in enforcement of law and legal processes, monitoring illegal wildlife trade, analysis of poaching and illegal wildlife trade, and leading campaigns against wildlife crimes. I have been a trained practitioner in Geographical Information Science, Spatial Analysis, Image processing with Erdas Imagine and other remote sensing analysis software, Computer Cartography, MS access, wildlife policy research and analytical tools, Expert Choice, statistical analysis using STATA and R, and qualitative and quantitative research methods. I have extensively carried out capacity building programs for various law enforcing agencies, and university and academic institutions, and have contributed extensively in international policy negotiations such as the CITES and CBD. I was a recipient of the Royal Bank of Scotland Foundation Earth Heroes Award in 2017, IUCN’s Asia’s one of 25 most influential environmental leaders in 2015, and University of Arizona, USA, International Wildlife Foundation Award in 2007. I have nearly 35 publications under authorship. I am a regular reviewer of papers on wildlife management in well-known international journals. Professionally, I have served as the Assistant Management Authority for CITES in India, as the Country Head for TARFFIC India- a global network of the WWF and IUCN, and as the first Director of Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation at Chennai, which I have established from its inception. I also served as the state Chief Wildlife Warden of Tamil Nadu state in India, and as the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests-Biodiversity. After taking voluntary retirement from the Indian Forest Service in 2023, I currently work as a consultant in the role of Regional Manager, South Asia-Myanmar for the Netherlands-based, Wildlife Justice Commission.