Forestry Education and Training: Time for Major Reforms

Forestry education and training in India which is based on conventional forest management centred towards state, relying on a centralized bureaucracy, This has now begun to change, due to several factors including growing mobilization by affected communities, realization by government and civil society that effective conservation needs community involvement, and several global processes redefining forest management and governance. For protected areas, two new categories of governance have been recognized: 'shared governance or co-management of protected areas (CMPA)' in which governments and local communities jointly decide, plan, and execute management measures; and 'community conserved areas (CCAs)', in which local communities are the predominant decision-makers. Various governance types can be combined to conserve large 'landscapes' rather than only islands of PAs. The IFS syllabus needs revamping to centre around concepts and practices of participation, rights, CMPAs and CCAs, landscape-level conservation,and combining traditional and modern knowledge.