Trees are vitally important from ecological, economic, and cultural perspectives. Their value as tools for understanding basic biological phenomena is immense. Capable of living for hundreds or even thousands of years, they provide a bridge to our past. And yet, we do not have meticulous records of our outstanding trees. At our Online Talk #LivingMonuments, botanist and biotechnologist Dr S Natesh unravels the clues to India’s unique ecological heritage and celebrates India’s iconic trees – some gnarled, age-wizened patriarchs, some that remind us of historical events or personalities, some gentle wish-fulfilling giants, some that bring back memories of gory deaths and dark punishments, and some others. He also makes an impassioned plea for better conservation and protection strategies for these living monuments.

About the speaker

Dr S. Natesh taught botany at the University of Delhi for nearly a decade before moving to the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, in 1984. At DBT, he headed several divisions, and through his leadership, several new and novel programmes were successfully launched. Following his superannuation from DBT in 2012, Dr Natesh served as a Consultant-Advisor at the National Institute of Immunology and the DST Centre for Policy Research at IIT-Delhi. His current interests include tracking and mapping the heritage trees of India and plants that influenced history. His work on heritage trees has resulted in a book, “Iconic Trees of India,” recently published by Roli Books. Dr Natesh received the Biospectrum Lifetime Achievement Award (2012) for his contribution to elevating the Indian Biosciences Sector. A new plant species, Aponogeton nateshii, has been named in his honour (2015).