A native of Darjeeling, Dr Sarala Khaling is a trained wildlife biologist and ecologist, and has worked in biodiversity conservation for over 20 years. Her work also focusses on ecosystem services at a landscape level most of which has been focused on the mountain areas of Nepal, Northeast India and Bhutan.

Sarala got her Ph. D in Zoology working in Singalila National Park, Darjeeling. She’s interested in looking at drivers of changes that impact biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services in human modified landscapes, especially in the mountains and hills of Northeast India and North Bengal. For over 10 years, she has also been working on capacity building initiatives targeting students, researchers, community leaders and local civil society organisations in Northeast India.

She’s also involved in forest restoration, agroforestry and initiatives to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers on agricultural land in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal, and in some parts of Sikkim. For the restoration work, her team has co-identified over 40 native species with communities as well as from scientific literature, and planted about 15-20 of them.

Presently, Dr Sarala is also working on the Great People’s Forest initiative supported by Conservation International, which includes restoration in North East India with multiple partners from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal.