The need was felt for an organization to help and strengthen endeavors for biodiversity recovery. It was important to have an agency which, while looking at forests holistically, combined their management with conserving their biodiversity and protecting the interests of the people in their vicinity in a manner that would be practical and scientifically oriented. Such a thought process led to the setting up of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) at Dehradun in 1982 with a mandate to train government and non-government personnel, carry out research, and advise on matters of conservation and management of wildlife resources.