The national celebration of the International Day of Forests this year will be commemorated by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) here today.

The International Day of Forests is celebrated worldwide on March 21 every year in order to raise public awareness on the values, significance and contributions of all types of forests. This year the theme of the day is ‘Forestry and Education: Learn to Love Forests’ aiming to promote the importance of education at all levels in achieving the goals of sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation.

The programme will be presided over by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change secretary CK Mishra with noted environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt as the keynote speaker. Representatives of various organisations of the ministry including the ICFRE, FRI, Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Directorate of Forest Education (DFE), Central Academy for State Forest Service (CASFoS), Forest Survey of India, Wildlife Institute of India, Botanical Survey of India, Zoological Survey of India, State Forest Department and others will also be participating in the event. Painting and essay competition for students of Dehradun based Kendriya and Navodaya Vidyalayas, photography competition for various forestry organisations and debate competition for FRI Deemed University students will also be organised on the occasion. Prize distribution to the winners of these competitions along with the ICFRE excellence awards will also be presented during the event.

Two publications — a coffee table book on ‘Biodiversity of New Forest Campus’ and ‘Compiled Profile of ICFRE Scientists’ will also be released. On this occasion an exhibition will also be organised to showcase the forest products, eco-friendly technologies, publications, artifacts, organic produce and other livelihood options promoted by NGOs and governmental organisations/departments. It is pertinent to mention here that forestry education is imparted by the ICFRE, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutes, central and state agricultural universities. There are 21 agricultural universities conducting forestry programmes at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level which are accredited by the ICFRE. FRI Deemed University also conducts various post graduate level courses and doctoral programme in forestry. Forestry training is imparted by the IGNFA and DFE in Dehradun through CASFoS, Central Academy for Forest Education and six Rangers colleges under State Governments located in different parts of country.