https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Alexander_Gibson_%28botanist%29Alexander Gibson (botanist) - Revision history2026-08-19T20:04:39ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexander_Gibson_(botanist)&diff=118517&oldid=prev>Iridescent 2: /* top */Cleanup and typo fixing, typo(s) fixed: from 1847–60 → from 1847 to 18602021-01-17T19:00:42Z<p><span class="autocomment">top: </span>Cleanup and <a href="https://en.bharatpedia.org/wiki/BP:AWB/T" class="extiw" title="wp:AWB/T">typo fixing</a>, <a href="https://en.bharatpedia.org/wiki/BP:AWB/T" class="extiw" title="wp:AWB/T">typo(s) fixed</a>: from 1847–60 → from 1847 to 1860</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Scottish surgeon and botanist in India}}<br />
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{{Use British English|date=December 2017}}<br />
'''Alexander Gibson''' (1800–1867) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[surgeon]] and [[botanist]] who worked in [[India]].<br />
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He was born in [[Kincardineshire]] and studied at [[Edinburgh]]. He went to India as a surgeon in the [[Honourable East India Company]]. He became a superintendent of the Dapuri botanical gardens (1838-47) under the erstwhile [[Bombay Presidency]].<br />
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He was instrumental in the implementation of forest conservation laws under the East India Company, and he was able to systematically propagandise a forest conservation program with help from [[Hugh Francis Cleghorn]] and [[Edward Balfour]].<br />
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The medical service in India during the late 19th century widely quoted the works of [[Alexander Humboldt]] linking [[deforestation]], increasing aridity, and temperature change on a global scale.<ref>Grove, R. H. (1997) ''Ecology, Climate and Empire''. p72 The White House Press, UK</ref> Several reports which spoke of large-scale deforestation and desiccation were coming up, prominent among them being the medico-topographical reports by [[Ranald Martin]], a surgeon. In another report, Gibson wrote to Sir [[Joseph Dalton Hooker]] in 1841 that "the Deccan is more bare than Gujarat" with the ghat mountain trees disappearing fast.<ref>Letter, Alexander Gibson to J.D. Hooker, dt 1 March 1841, Letter no. 21, India letters, [[The National Archives|Kew Archives]], Richmond, Surrey</ref> He requested Hooker to influence the government to control the forests in the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]] and [[Konkan]] region. This led to the creation of the Bombay forest conservancy and Gibson was made conservator of forests. This was the first case of state management of forests in the world.<ref>Barton, G. A. Empire Forestry and the Origins of Environmentalism. p. 48</ref><br />
He became a conservator of Bombay forests from 1847 to 1860.<br />
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He published several works on botany and reports on forestry.<br />
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{{botanist|A.Gibson|Gibson, Alexander}}<br />
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== Further reading ==<br />
* Noltie, H. J. (2002) The Dapuri drawings: Alexander Gibson and The Bombay Botanic Gardens. The Antique Collectors Club in association with the [[Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh]]. 240pp.<br />
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== References ==<br />
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== External links ==<br />
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* [https://vimeo.com/126669300 Biographic film on life of Dr. Alexander Gibson, Botanist]<br />
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[[Category:1800 births]]<br />
[[Category:1867 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Scottish botanists]]<br />
[[Category:Scottish surgeons]]<br />
[[Category:Scottish people of the British Empire]]<br />
[[Category:People from Kincardine and Mearns]]<br />
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]<br />
[[Category:Colonial Forest Service officers]]<br />
[[Category:People of British India]]<br />
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{{UK-botanist-stub}}</div>>Iridescent 2