A Boy From Siklis (The Life and Times of Chandra Gurung)

Activities in Nepal, especially those that set a good example...do not often breach the international consciousness. [A Boy from Siklis] does just that, narrating Nepal's revolutionary approach to protected areas in a fluent and personalized manner:—Himal Southasian

In late September 2006, Chandra Gurung organized an event in remote Ghunsa village in Eastern Nepal to celebrate a landmark in the country's conservation history: the handing over of ownership of forest areas by the government to local inhabitants. The handover also marked the apex of Chandra's career as an environmentalist. On the way back from Ghunsa, the helicopter ferrying Chandra and others crashed, killing everyone aboard.

A Boy from Siklis traces Chandra Gurung's remarkable life—his birth in the tiny village of Sikhs; his education in Nepal and abroad; his work, first with the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation and then as head of the World Wildlife Fund Nepal—and his meteoric rise as he became one of the keystones of nature-conservation efforts in Nepal. A compelling story of a life lived with verve and an honest desire to make a lasting difference, A Boy from Siklis is also a valuable and illuminating history of nature conservation in Nepal, caught up in the country's thorny politics.