The Forest Research Institute (FRI) director Dr PP Bhojvaid has stressed on the importance of new methods and technologies developed by various institutions for upliftment of the economy of the rural poor whose livelihood depends on the forests. He said this at the start of a training for Forest Department officers on forestry as livelihood in climate change adaption organised by the institute in collaboration with the National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi.
Forestry is the main source of livelihood for the rural population of India. Change of climate over a period of time is affecting forest resources by increasing floods, droughts, landslides especially in mountainous areas. The basic purpose of the training is to sensitise the officers of forest departments on the impact of change of climate on forests and how to mitigate the effect. The resource persons from forest departments of Uttarakhand and Haryana, National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi, Scientists from FRI and Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy will interact with the participants and share their experiences and expertise on effect of climate change on forest based livelihood of the poor people and mitigation techniques. They will also solve the problems of meeting basic needs of fuel, fodder and NTFPs for the poor during this programme. The course director of the training and FRI Silviculture division head Kunal Satyarthi emphasised on advance preparation for mitigation of climate change especially in the Himalayan regions.