Kerala’s finest environmental scientist Dr T V Sajeev has been nominated as India’s representative to the Asia-Pacific Forest Invasive Species Network (APFISN).

Sajeev is a senior principal scientist at the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI).

Thirty-three countries are members of the Asia-Pacific Forest Invasive Species Network. Sajeev will be India’s ‘focal point’ to the network. Sajeev will provide technical support to manage biological invasions and device strategies specific to the Asia-Pacific region. He was nominated by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

The network was formed in 2004 to conduct research on forest invasive species and share the information among member countries. It also aims to develop regional strategies for invasive species. It is a statutory body of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Sajeev has been tracing the invasive species for many years. He currently coordinates the activities of the nodal centre for biological invasions at the Kerala Forest Research Institute.

He is a member of the Madras High Court-constituted committee to plan strategies to manage invasive plants in the Nilgiris and the expert panel on biological invasions of the National Biodiversity Authority.

Sajeev writes extensively on environment, nature and society. He is one of the most followed speakers on environment in the country thanks to his uncanny knack in elucidating complex scientific issues and theories.

In 2017, Sajeev mapped granite quarries in Kerala along with his colleague CJ Alex. The study assessed the proximity of quarries to earthquake epicentres and found that 78 quarries lay within 1 km of the epicentre of the earthquakes (Between 1986 and 2013, Kerala witnessed 115 earthquakes measuring between 0.8 magnitude and 5 magnitude).

Listen to Sajeev’s podcast in Onmanorama on Athirappilly hydel power project and biodiversity. This was published on June 20, 2020.