Stating that both the environment and development are equally important for humans, the President Pranab Mukherjee stressed on the need to achieve balance between these two aspects. The president was speaking that the convocation of the 2015-17 batch of Indian Forest Service probationers at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) here on Friday.
Speaking at the function held in the Forest Research Institute convocation hall, the president said that the IGNFA had served the nation for 77 years with all IFS officers in independent India and about 345 forest officers from 14 of the neighbouring countries being trained in this institution. He advised the young probationers to work with sincerity while also keeping an open mind and innovative approach while dealing with various issues specially the issues concerning the livelihood of the forest dependent poor people.
The president suggested that the entire forestry community should work to tackle the effects of global climatic change. Addressing the young officers, he said that their first responsibility was to utilise scientific resources to protect the forests and enhance their productivity while also enabling fulfilling of the forest-related requirements of the common people. He said that the key is to develop sustainable utilisation of natural resources with a strong commitment to eradicate poverty and hunger globally. He also advised the young officers to become the facilitators to convert the threats to forests into opportunity by eradicating poverty. The conservation of the nation’s natural resources will ensure ecological security, he stressed. Expressing concern at the condition of water sources and bodies, the president emphasised on the need for striking a balance between development and environmental conservation.
Addressing the gathering, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Anil Madhav Dave said that the days when forests were treated as mere resources to be exploited are over and now forests need to be conserved by empowering local communities, sustainable sharing of benefits from forests and by enhancing forests as mitigators of climate change or as rural livelihood options. Stating that the role of IFS officers is evolving day by day, he said that a member of the Forest Service is now called upon to perform complex functions in a complicated mosaic of human environment with new dynamic parameters. He also expressed concern about the conflict between the “rights of men” and “rights of nature” while trying to maintain harmony.
Speaking on the occasion, Uttarakhand governor Krishan Kant Paul opined that the interest of the common people in conservation of forest resources had increased due to the importance of forests in mitigating natural disasters and providing resources to society. On the lines of gross domestic product (GDP) the concept of a green GDP also needs to be adopted, he stressed. There is a need for programmes not only to conserve the eroding biodiversity for posterity but also to use it in a sustainable way for economic upliftment of the people. The governor also emphasised on the use of herbal wealth to develop the traditional healthcare system for the local population as well as for export market.
Expressing his views, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, Trivendra Singh Rawat said that there is a rich history of scientific management of forests in the country, which is one of the oldest in the world. He also said the future will bring the responsibilities in connection with the productivity enhancement to biodiversity conservation and addressing the livelihood concerns and other developmental needs of the people living in and near the forests.
According to the academy, a total of 45 IFS probationers and two foreign trainees from the government of Bhutan were awarded with the diploma in the 2015-17 course. All those who successfully completed the training were awarded the Associate of Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy Diploma.