New Delhi: Dr. Madhu Verma, a renowned environmental economist and policy analyst with nearly four decades of experience in ecosystem services valuation, biodiversity conservation and environmental finance, has joined the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) as Chief Environmental Economist and Project Director – Ecosystem Services & Nature Finance.
In a conversation with Indian Masterminds, Dr. Verma spoke about her new role at the international organisation and her work in the field of ecosystem economics and conservation finance.
Her appointment brings extensive experience in environmental economics, policy research and institutional development to an organisation focused on the conservation of the world’s big cats.
Who Is Dr. Madhu Verma?
Dr. Verma is an Indian environmental economist and policy analyst with 39 years of professional experience. Her work has focused on the economic valuation of ecosystems and biodiversity, ecosystem services assessment, green accounting, conservation finance, payment for ecosystem services and nature-based solutions.
She has worked on mapping, modelling and measuring ecosystem services, developing incentive-based mechanisms and strengthening policy, institutional and market frameworks for environmental conservation.
Before joining IBCA, she served as Senior Economic Adviser and Chief Environmental Economist at IORA Ecological Solutions. She has also held several important positions in academic institutions, government departments and international organisations.
Nearly Four Decades of Experience in Environmental Economics
Dr. Verma began her professional career as an economist with the Government of Madhya Pradesh, where she worked from 1984 to 1994.
She subsequently joined the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, as a professor in 1994 and remained associated with the institution until 2019. During this period, she established the Centre for Ecological Services Management in 2007, creating an institutional platform for research and work on the economic valuation of ecological services.
From 2019 to 2023, she served as Chief Economist at World Resources Institute (WRI) India. She later joined IORA Ecological Solutions as Senior Economic Adviser and Chief Environmental Economist.
Her professional journey has involved research, policy development and implementation of projects for international organisations, Union government ministries, state departments and various national Forestry and Finance Commissions.
Educational Background and International Fellowships
Dr. Verma is a graduate in Biological Sciences and holds an MA, M.Phil. and PhD in Economics, specialising in Regional Planning and Economic Growth, from Barkatullah University, India.
She has also received several prestigious fellowships that supported her academic and professional engagement with environmental policy and economics.
She was a Fulbright-Nehru Environmental Leadership Program Fellow in 2012 at Portland State University. She also received the Leadership in Environment and Development (LEAD) Fellowship in 2007 and was recognised as a Fellow of the Indian Society for Ecological Economics.
In 2001, she received the World Bank-supported EMCaB Fellowship, which enabled her to undertake research at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the University of California, Berkeley.
Important Contributions to Tiger Conservation and Ecosystem Valuation
One of Dr. Verma’s significant areas of work has been the economic valuation of tiger habitats and protected landscapes.
She authored pioneering studies on the economic valuation of tiger reserves in India, published in 2015 and 2019. These studies helped bring greater attention to the economic and ecological contributions of tiger reserves and their role in policy and conservation decision-making.
In 2017, she co-authored a study published in the journal Ecosystem Services that estimated the economic value of ecosystem services provided by six Indian tiger reserves.
Her work has also covered the valuation of snow leopard landscapes, forests and wetlands. She has contributed to the estimation of Net Present Value (NPV) for forest diversion and forest valuation and accounting exercises in states including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
She has also contributed to the development of forestry sector devolution formulas for the 13th, 14th and 15th Finance Commissions of the Government of India.
Another area of her research has been approaches to doubling farmers’ income through agroecological system-based considerations.
Contribution to Global Environmental Reports and Policy
Dr. Verma has been an expert, team member, contributing author and lead author in several important international environmental assessments and reports.
Her contributions include the United Nations’ Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report, the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) reports on valuation and policy-making, and the Global Assessment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
She has also contributed to the preparation of manuals and frameworks for the economic valuation of tiger and snow leopard landscapes and regulating ecosystem services.
Through these assignments, she has worked on bringing economic evidence into environmental decision-making and strengthening the understanding of the value of natural ecosystems.
Government and Institutional Advisory Roles
Alongside her research and academic work, Dr. Verma has served in several expert and advisory capacities.
She is an Expert Member of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. She has also served as a non-official economist member of the Monitoring Committee of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).
In addition, she has chaired the Technical Committee on the Wetlands of Delhi under the Delhi Government.
Her work has involved advising institutions and government bodies on conservation economics, ecosystem valuation, environmental policy and financing mechanisms.
Publications and Research Work
Dr. Verma has published more than 50 papers in national and international journals, along with several books and over 50 project reports.
Her selected works include Making the Hidden Visible: Economic Valuation of Tiger Reserves in India, contributions to The IPBES Conceptual Framework – Connecting Nature and People, and the Guidance Manual for the Valuation of Regulating Services, published by the United Nations Environment Programme in 2010.
With her appointment as Chief Environmental Economist and Project Director – Ecosystem Services & Nature Finance at the International Big Cat Alliance, Dr. Verma will bring her extensive experience in environmental economics, ecosystem valuation and conservation finance to the organisation.
About IBCA
The International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) is a treaty-based inter-governmental international organization dedicated to the global conservation of the world’s seven primary big cat species. Officially transitionary to a full legal entity on January 23, 2025, the coalition unites range countries, non-range nations, conservation partners, and scientific bodies into a single cooperative platform.
