Nitin H Kakodkar from the 1987 batch of the Indian Forest Service retired in June 2021 after 34 years of in-service experience having served in different departments/sectors in Maharashtra.

Selected for the State Forest Service as an Assistant Conservator of Forests he joined training at the State Forest Service College (now, CASFOS) Coimbatore in January 1986, as a trainee officer. He found a mentor in Dr Rajesh Gopal who was a faculty member in the SFSC Coimbatore for furthering interests in Wildlife Management. While at Coimbatore he appeared for the IFS entrance examination and got selected in the 1987 batch and did his forestry training at the IGNFA Dehradun followed by the Foundation Course at the LBSNAA. His overall ranking in the 1987 batch after the training was third in a big batch of about 160 probationary officers. He was allotted the Maharashtra cadre of the IFS.

He completed his probation (1989-1990) as ACF Allapalli, in the remote District of Gadchiroli where exposure to core forestry issues including Coupe working and Departmental Collection of Tendu leaves, was possible.

After this he completed the Diploma in Wildlife Management (1990-1991) at the Wildlife Institute of India – Dehradun and topped the course ending up with a Gold Medal and two Silver medals.

After the Wildlife Management Diploma he was posted as ACF in the office of the Chief Wildlife Warden Maharashtra where he drafted the Guidelines for writing the Management Plans for the Protected Areas in Maharashtra.

On promotion as DCF he worked as the Officer on Special Duty (1992-1995) at the State Secretariat in Mumbai where exposure to Budgetary and Legislative procedures was possible and where he could also master the techniques of Governance. He also dealt with the subject of Wildlife Management during this stint at the State Secretariat.

To further his interests in Wildlife Management he moved on to manage 3 Sanctuaries in Western Maharashtra viz: Tansa, Phansad and Karnala as also control over Wildlife trade in and around the city of Mumbai as the DCF Wildlife Thane. (Oct 1995-April1999).

He went back to Vidarbha for the next 4 years (April 1999- June 2003) to manage the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in the Chandrapur District.  The services rendered at the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve earned him the SANCTUARY ASIA WILDLIFE SERVICE AWARD for 2001 and he was also felicitated at the hands of the then Governor of Maharashtra Hon. Shri Mohammed Fazal.

On promotion as CF he joined the Melghat Tiger Reserve in the Amravati District as its Field Director (2004-2007) and improved its Protection status. This was instrumental in, Melghat Tiger Reserve, getting ranked amongst the top 10 Tiger Reserves in the Country.

He came back to the State Secretariat this time as the Joint Secretary to the Government and could contribute in a big way in drafting the State Eco-tourism Policy and the State Forest Policy in a stint that lasted 4 years between 2007 and 2011.

This was followed by a tenure as the Chief Conservator of Forests (Territorial) at Pune for a year and a half (August 2011-Jan 2013) where exposure to territorial working of forests was possible.

This was followed by an assignment as the CCF (Education and Training) Maharashtra, with office in Pune that related to managing 6 Training Institutes set up in various parts of the State to provide induction and refresher trainings to the frontline staff and officers of the Forest Department. This assignment provided an opportunity to revise the entire reading material as well as providing training material encompassing 16 forestry subjects. The assignment as CCF education and training also gave an opportunity to upgrade the infrastructure in the Training Institutes under assistance provided under the JICA project. The first forest academy in the state was also set up at Kundal, near Sangli and it is recognised as one of the best Training centres in the country.

In September 2016 he was promoted as the Additional PCCF and posted in the Social Forestry wing of the Forest Department at its headquarters in Pune.

He then shifted to Nagpur in February 2017 as the APCCF Budget Planning and Development in the Forest headquarters where new models for Plantations were devised to improve the status of survival.

He was promoted as the PCCF Wildlife and the Chief Wildlife Warden of Maharashtra in February 2019 where he continued to work till his superannuation in June 2021 (Tenure as CWLW 29 months). As CWLW the major issues handled were mitigating the negative human wildlife interaction and many new Rescue Units were set up in various Divisions in the State. New Protected Areas in the form of one Sanctuary and as many as 8 Conservation Reserves were notified during this time taking the number of PAs in the State to 70 covering an area of more than 10000 sq.kms.

The State Wildlife Action Plan for the next 10 years was drafted and submitted to the State Government in June 2021(i.e, before superannuation), Maharashtra being the first State in the country to do so. This State Wildlife Action Plan was approved by the State Board for Wildlife in its meeting in October 2021 and has also been subsequently approved by the State Government for implementation.

In November 2016 he penned a book titled “Tadoba-the Untold Story” which has anecdotes covering the various facets of wildlife management.

He was involved in the 5^th Cycle of Management Effectiveness Evaluation Team of the National Tiger Conservation Authority and has carried out the MEE exercise for 5 Tiger Reserves. He was also a member of the Expert Committee to draft the VISION PLAN FOR STRENGTHENING PROJECT TIGER for the NTCA GoI. Both these documents were released at the hands of the Hon. Prime Minister of India on the occasion of the Celebration of the 50 years of Project Tiger in April 2023.