Chandra Prakash Kala

Kala was born and grew up in Sumari, a small village of Uttarakhand state in India. He studied life sciences at the Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar before completing a PhD on the ecology and conservation of the Valley of Flowers National Park at the Forest Research Institute (a deemed university), Dehradun.

He has published over 185 research papers and articles and nine books including: The Valley of Flowers: Myth and Reality,{{cite book|url=http://www.indianbooks.co.in/bookmart/the-valley-of-flowers-myth-and-reality.html|title=The Valley Of Flowers: Myth and Reality; Chandra Prakash Kala; International Book Distributors, New Delhi|publisher=indianbooks.co.in|accessdate=2014-10-05|isbn=9788170893110|date=2004-01-01|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006095617/http://www.indianbooks.co.in/bookmart/the-valley-of-flowers-myth-and-reality.html|url-status=dead}} Medicinal Plants of Indian Trans-Himalaya,{{cite book|title=Medicinal Plants of Indian Trans-Himalaya: focus on Tibetan use of medicinal resources|author=Kala, C. P.|date=2003|publisher=Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh|isbn=9788121101806|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xqRKAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=2014-10-05}} Medicinal Plants of Uttarakhand,{{Cite book|isbn=978-8176222099|title=Medicinal Plants of Uttarakhand: Diversity, Livelihood and Conservation: Chandra Prakash Kala: 9788176222099: Amazon.com: Books|last1=Kala|first1=Chandra Prakash|year=2010|publisher=Biotech Books }} and Ecology and Conservation of Valley of Flowers National Park.{{cite book|title=Ecology and conservation of the Valley of Flowers National Park, Garhwal Himalaya|author1=Kala, C.P.|author2=Rawat, G. S.|author3=Uniyal, V. K.|author4=Wildlife Institute of India (Dehra Dūn, India)|date=1998|publisher=Wildlife Institute of India|isbn=9788185496061|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ydEsAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=2014-10-05}} He writes popular articles regularly in English and Hindi. His decade long studies on the Valley of Flowers National Park laid the foundation stone to declare the Valley of Flowers a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2005.{{cite journal | last1 = Kala | first1 = C. P. | year = 2005 | title = The Valley of Flowers- A Newly Declared World Heritage Site | url = http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/sep252005/919.pdf | journal = Current Science | volume = 89 | issue = 6 | pages = 919–920 | access-date = 20 September 2014 | archive-date = 17 October 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181017190453/http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/sep252005/919.pdf | url-status = dead }}

Kala has surveyed two major traditional systems of Asian therapies - Ayurveda{{cite journal |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra Prakash |title=Current Status of Medicinal Plants used by Traditional Vaidyas in Uttaranchal State of India |journal=Ethnobotany Research & Applications |date=2005 |volume=3 |pages=267–278 |doi=10.17348/era.3.0.267-278 |hdl=10125/179 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra Prakash |title=Preserving Ayurvedic Herbal Formulations by Vaidyas: The Traditional Healers of the Uttaranchal Himalaya Region in India |journal=HerbalGram |date=2006 |volume=70 |pages=42–50 |url=http://cms.herbalgram.org/herbalgram/issue70/article2969.html }} and the traditional Tibetan medicine.{{cite journal |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra Prakash |title=Health traditions of Buddhist community and role of amchis in trans-Himalayan region of India |journal=Current Science |date=2005 |volume=89 |issue=8 |pages=1331–1338 |jstor=24110838 }}{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/17451590609618098 |title=Medicinal plants of the high altitude cold desert in India: Diversity, distribution and traditional uses |journal=International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystems Services & Management |volume=2 |pages=43–56 |year=2006 |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra Prakash |s2cid=85420560 |doi-access=free }} He has studied various natural resource management practices evolved by various tribal communities in northwest,{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0006-3207(99)00128-7 |title=Status and conservation of rare and endangered medicinal plants in the Indian trans-Himalaya |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=93 |issue=3 |pages=371–379 |year=2000 |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra Prakash }}{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02104.x |title=Patterns of plant species distribution in the Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh, India |journal=Journal of Vegetation Science |volume=13 |issue=6 |pages=751 |year=2002 |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra Prakash |last2=Mathur |first2=Vinod B. }} northeast{{cite journal |doi=10.1186/1746-4269-1-11 |pmid=16288657 |pmc=1315349 |year=2005 |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra Prakash |title=Ethnomedicinal botany of the Apatani in the Eastern Himalayan region of India |journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine |volume=1 |pages=11 |doi-access=free }} and central India,{{cite journal |last1=Kala |first1=C. P |title=Traditional ecological knowledge on characteristics, conservation and management of soil in tribal communities of Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve, India |journal=Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition |date=2013 |doi=10.4067/S0718-95162013005000018 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s11676-015-0083-3 |title=Forest structure and anthropogenic pressures in the Pachmarhi biosphere reserve of India |journal=Journal of Forestry Research |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=867–874 |year=2015 |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra Prakash |s2cid=16408415 }}{{cite journal |doi=10.1186/1746-4269-5-20 |pmid=19653889 |pmc=2729299 |title=Aboriginal uses and management of ethnobotanical species in deciduous forests of Chhattisgarh state in India |journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine |volume=5 |pages=20 |year=2009 |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra |doi-access=free }} especially in Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Besides the Valley of Flowers, he surveyed many other high altitude protected areas, including Kedarnath Wild Life Sanctuary, Great Himalayan National Park, Hemis National Park, Karakorum Wildlife Sanctuary, Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary, Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary, Pin Valley National Park and Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary.{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00602.x |title=Indigenous Uses, Population Density, and Conservation of Threatened Medicinal Plants in Protected Areas of the Indian Himalayas |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=368–378 |year=2005 |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra Prakash |s2cid=85324142 }}{{cite journal |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra |last2=Kothari |first2=Kishor |title=Livestock predation by common leopard in Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, India: human-wildlife conflicts and conservation issues |journal=Human–Wildlife Interactions |date=1 January 2013 |volume=7 |issue=2 |doi=10.26077/c366-ej10 |url=https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol7/iss2/10/ }} Kala also has surveyed the Alps including the only national park of Slovenia, Triglav National Park.{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s10531-012-0246-x |title=High altitude biodiversity of the Alps and the Himalayas: Ethnobotany, plant distribution and conservation perspective |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=1115 |year=2012 |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra Prakash |last2=Ratajc |first2=Petra |s2cid=13911329 |url=https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?id=36874&dn= }}

He has served internationally recognized institutions well known for framing and implementing policies, including the National Medicinal Plants Board, the apex body of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, of India.{{cite journal |doi=10.5958/j.0975-4261.1.2.011 |title=Medicinal plants conservation and enterprise development |journal=Medicinal Plants - International Journal of Phytomedicines and Related Industries |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=79 |year=2009 |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra Prakash }}

Kala is on the editorial and advisory board of over a dozen of national and international scientific journals, including Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, American Journal of Plant Sciences, International Journal of Ecology, Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences, International Journal of Forestry Research, Journal of Biodiversity and African Journal of Plant Sciences.{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnobiomed.com/about/edboard|title=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | Editorial Board|publisher=ethnobiomed.com|accessdate=2014-10-05}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hindawi.com/35040497/|title=Chandra Prakash Kala|publisher=hindawi.com|accessdate=2014-10-05}}

Kala is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the first science academy of India established in 1930.{{cite web |url=http://www.nasi.org.in/ |title=The National Academy of Sciences, India - Home |accessdate=2014-05-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140516215346/http://nasi.org.in/ |archivedate=16 May 2014 |df=dmy-all }} He has been awarded fellowships from the national and international institutions including the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Nepal the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Wildlife Institute of India, and the G. B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development - for carrying out research on the ecology and biodiversity conservation in the various national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves of the Indian Himalayas.{{cite book|author1=Chandra Prakash Kala|author2=Chandra Shekhar Silori|title=Biodiversity, Communities and Climate Change|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z669SP9trLAC&pg=PA329|date=1 January 2013|publisher=TERI Press|isbn=978-81-7993-442-5|pages=329–}}

He has been a visiting scholar at Pennsylvania State University, in the United States and the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia.

Kala was awarded the prestigious ICFRE Award for Excellence in the Forest Conservation (Biodiversity and Ecology).Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education. http://icfre.org/UserFiles/File/annual_report-2005-06/chapter-2.pdf

• Nanda's Neelkanth

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|

• "A Delicious Affairs"
• "Nagrasani"
• "The Last Wish"
• "The Tip of the Tail"
• "Man-eaters of Garhwal"
• "Spurge and Snake Bite"
• "Tapyo"
• "My Favorite Medicine"
• "The Prisoners of School"
• "Riding the Best"
• "Gaura’s Home"
• "Aunty"
• "A Killer in the Clouds"
• "A Bull in the Leopard’s Monarchy"
• "The Heavenly Leaf"
• "The Forgotten Healers"
• "His Confession"
• "Seers of Pandukeshwar"
• "Battle Between the Best"
• "The Fragrance of Parijaat"
• "The Childhood Friend"}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|

• "On His Wishes"
• "The Bear’s Trail"
• "A Non-vegetarian in the Holy Hills"
• "A Job Hunter"
• "My First Job"
• "My Maiden Visit to Penn State"
• "Botanist of Surguja"
• "Ziro"
• "A City of Biodiversity"
• "A Week with Everest and Nanda Devi Summiteers"
• "The Silence of Candolim"
• "The Land of Many Shades"
• "Om Mani Padme Hum"
• "The Roof of the World"
• "The Floating Heaven"
• "A Vagrant and the ‘Queen of Mountains’"
• "Hidden Gem of Europe"
• "The Majesty of Mahasu"}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|

• "Paradise Under Fire"
• "Taste the Himalayas"
• "Revitalizing Sacred Grove"
• "The Tremor of Tragedy"
• "Mountains of Sanjeevani"
• "Grasslands in Peril"
• "Call from the Hills"
• "Sacred, a Way of Life"}}

• The Valley of Flowers: Myth and Reality
• Medicinal Plants of Uttarakhand
• Medicinal Plants of Indian Trans-Himalaya
• Medicinal Plants and Sustainable Development
• Biodiversity, Communities and Climate Change

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EfLtwKIAAAAJ|title=Chandra Prakash Kala|publisher=Google Scholar|accessdate=2016-02-28}}
• {{cite web|url=https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.url?authorId=6602891940|title=IE7Message|publisher=scopus.com|accessdate=2014-10-05}}
• {{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chandra_Prakash_Kala|title=Chandra Prakash Kala|accessdate=2016-08-19}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.downtoearth.org.in/author/chandra-prakash-kala-842|title=Chandra Prakash Kala|publisher=Down To Earth|accessdate=2016-08-19|archive-date=14 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914133434/http://www.downtoearth.org.in/author/chandra-prakash-kala-842|url-status=dead}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kala, Chandra Prakash}}

Category:Living people

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Category:Indian male writers

Category:Ethnobotanists

Category:Indian ecologists

Category:Scientists from Uttarakhand

Category:People from Pauri Garhwal district

Category:Indian environmentalists

Category:Himalayan studies

Category:Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University alumni