Manu Bhatnagar is an architect, and urban and environmental planner with 30 Years of experience in the environment sector. He currently heads the Natural Heritage Division of INTACH as Principal Director. An alumni of Cornell University with qualifications in Regional Planning, he also has qualifications in Policy Analysis, Strategic Management, Strategic Environmental Assessment, Ecology and Habitat Management, Environmental Law, Conservation of Rivers and Lakes, Ecosystem Services and Sustainable Development, Disaster Management from prestigious institutes.
He has been a visiting faculty at SPA and Centre for Heritage Management, Ahmedabad Univ. Presently, he is a nominated expert member of UP Govt.s’ Multi-Stakeholder Platform for Ganga Tributary Management, of Wetland Authority of Delhi [GNCTD], of NMCG Committee on Yamuna River E-flows, of Delhi Biodiversity Council.
He has worked in India and in SE Asia on diverse projects ranging from urban-regional-environmental planning to cultural documentation, river conservation, water policy, sustainable agriculture, urban biodiversity, lake conservation and management [with studies, projects and activism on several significant lakes and wetlands]. He has worked on Ramsar sites, salt water lakes, oxbow lakes and marshes, heritage water bodies, water policy, island policy and geo-tourism at varying scales and understands the complexities and interests of several stakeholders involved in the development process.