Training programme for IFS officers concludes in Shimla

Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 25

The links between livelihood development and biodiversity conservation were highlighted in a week-long training programme for Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers, which concluded here on Friday.

The training programme was organised by the Himalayan Forest Research Institute (HFRI), Shimla, under the guidance of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change from September 20 to 24, in which 26 officers from 24 states and Union Territories participated.

It was based on ‘Community engagement for co-production of ecosystem services from hill forests’ and was organised in the virtual mode, programme coordinator Dr Vaneet Jishtu said.

Speakers said during Covid-19, people realised the true value of oxygen and presently, much attention was being paid to carbon — that too because it had a monetary value for its mitigation. “We need to value such indirect ecosystem services to provide monetary gains to the local communities who are conserving them,” they said.

Experts said that biodiversity conservation would be possible through socially-inclusive programmes, such as development of viable alternative sources of livelihoods for the local communities.

The inaugural function was presided over by Dr Savita, HoFF, Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, while Dr AS Rawat, Director General, Indian Council of Forest Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun, presided over the closing ceremony. Dr SS Samant, director of Himalayan Forest Research Institute, scientists and students of the institute participated in the training programme.