A two-week general refresher course for in service State forest service (SFS) officers from across the country was inaugurated at the Central Academy for State Forest Service (CASFoS) by the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) director Vinod Kumar on Monday.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion Kumar spoke on the challenges faced by forest officers with regard to changing demography and technology.
While CASFoS principal N Sonzalian welcomed all the participants and exhorted them to make the most of the opportunity, course coordinator Meera Iyer gave the course outline.
The course aims to update and upgrade the knowledge and skills of the in-service State forest officers by enriching professional knowledge and skills needed for better performance, to achieve attitudinal re-orientation in line with the changing organisational ambience.
It also aims to offer an opportunity to the officers from different States to meet, interact and deliberate on various professional issues. There are total 28 participants from Bihar, Maharashtra, Manipur, Punjab, Tripura and West Bangal.
This two week programme will touch upon various subjects including new working plan code, leadership and motivation skills, communication and effective presentation, non wood forest produce, computer application, community forestry and wildlife, forest conservation, use of GPS, Forest Conservation Act, community based ecotourism, plant identification and advanced nursery management techniques, protected area management, wildlife forensics, Forest Rights Act,2006, human resource issues in forestry, climate change and human animal interface.