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Irshad A. Khan Honorary Professor, Amity School of Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, Amity University, Noida

Irshad A. Khan is an expert on forestry and natural resources management, with more than 35 years of professional experience in the areas of forest management and environmental protection. He recently (in 2012–2013) headed a USAID-funded Forest-PLUS programme aimed at REDD+ preparedness. Previously, he spent nine years as a Senior Forestry Specialist with the World Bank, where he designed, appraised and supervised forestry and watershed projects, and performed policy and institutional capacity analysis in more than seven Indian states, while serving as team leader for the World Bank’s entire forestry and watershed portfolio in India. 

He joined the Indian Forest Service (IFS) in 1975 and retired from the IFS in 2011. He held the post of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests with the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, and served as Head of the State Forest Department, Head of the Wildlife Department and Chairman of the State Pollution Control Board. He has worked as a counterpart coordinated with many international donors in India’s forest sector while serving the Ministry of Environment and Forests as the Deputy Inspector General of Forests and the Head of the Externally Aided Forestry Projects Division, where he oversaw the preparation, appraisal and implementation of 20 projects.

He holds a Master of Science degree in Forestry and Its Relation to Land Management from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, as well as the Associate of the Indian Forest College PG Diploma (AIFC) equivalent of a Master of Science degree in Forestry, Wildlife and Allied Subjects from the Indian forestry college, the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Dehradun, India. He has written several books, papers and articles.