- Subir Mario Chowfin
Where on Earth are the Gadoli and Manda Khal Fee Simple Estates?
A Brief History
The Gadoli and Manda Khal Fee Simple Estates are located in the western Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in the district of Pauri Garhwal in India at an altitude range from 1000m to 2100m.
These estates initially belonged to the British East India Company and were managed as tea estates. They were sold to Bishop James Mills Thoburn who in turn sold a portion of the Gadoli Fee Simple Estate and all of Manda Khal Fee Simple Estate to Rev. David Albert Chowfin in 1903. I am the great - grandson of Rev. David Albert Chowfin and the son of Trevor Harry Chowfin. My late father, Trevor Harry Chowfin was a Lt. Commander, a Fleet Air Arm Fighter Pilot of the Indian Navy and a veteran of the Indian Navy and I am one of the Trustees of The Gadoli and Manda Khal Wildlife Conservation Trust.
About the Forests
The private forests of the Gadoli and Manda Khal Fee Simple Estates are not just any forest. They are a part of an Endangered Eco-Region and lie within the Western Himalayan Endemic Bird Area and are home to the Himalayan Black Bear, the Leopard and the Barking Deer as well as myriad species of birds, butterflies and moths.
The forests in this landscape are made up of oaks, pines and mixed forests which are a storehouse of himalayan ferns, mosses and grass. They are also a source of eight perennial springs.
These forests have been plundered by land sharks and forest fires in the past and so The Gadoli and Manda Khal Wildlife Conservation Trust was established with an aim to conserve, protect, preserve, study and restore forests and wildlife in the landscape.
More information and examples about our work are available on: