Forests teem with life and life-giving resources and perhaps nowhere is it as evident as it is in the state of Karnataka. Forests in Karnataka stretch as far as the eye can see, cradling the lowest valleys and crowning the highest peaks. At its heart, is the Western Ghats, one of the biodiversity hotspots of the world. Here, natural life in its varied and myriad forms thrives.  In this symphony of life, death is inevitable. But in these ancient forest landscapes, death is not a mournful finite end but a celebration of transformation, for the future of every living being.   While some of the more colorful mammals of these forests are oft celebrated, what is little known, is about the lives and deaths of our own mammals…. the humans who make it their lives work, to protect these very forests. The men and women of the Karnataka Forest Department, who protect these magnificent and wild forests for us, for all of humanity, and for posterity.  This is a story about Karnataka’s green soldiers. About the lives of the army that dedicate their lives to the protection of our most precious, life-giving resource. A story of service to the nation that is unknown to most of us. A tribute to the martyrs of the forest, of all those who have laid down their lives in the line of duty. And a celebration of these true green heroes.