The Central Academy for State Forest Service (CASFoS) is organising a training programme for the Forest Department as part of the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) project on "legal Issues in Forestry and Wildlife Management”.
The programme began on Monday.
India’s forest and tree cover is much below the global average. In order to improve the country’s forest cover, the role of the communities living in forest fringe areas is vital.
The Forest Department frontline staff is in daily contact with the forest fringe communities. These frontline staff needs effective and well-structuredtraining on the latest skills and techniques in forestry sector in the State Forestry Training Institutions (SFTIs).
The project intends to create a cadre of master trainers in forestry subjects who will in turn conduct Training of Trainers (ToT) for those who will be posted as faculty members in SFTIs.
The Potential Master Trainers (PMTs) from State Forest Departments were selected through workshops held at Amity University, Noida during May 2012.
The present participants are those who had earlier been selected as potential Master Trainers. Altogether, 25 participants are attending the training programme from 11 JICA assisted loan States.
Retired Rajasthan PCCF Abhijit Ghose who is the team leader and consultant (Forestry) to the Central Project Management Unit (CPMU), CPMU
consultant HRD and Communication Skills S Ramalingam, JICA chief adviser Yasuhisa Tanaka and JICA project coordinator Atsuko Godo were
among those present on the occasion. CASFoS principal Ashish Rawat and course coordinator Meera Iyer also addressed the gathering in the presence
of Uttarakhand PCCF RBS Rawat.