A need for specialized training

We are in an age of specialists. In such a world, it is unreasonable to think that a forest officer will be able to manage natural resources, plan soil conservation works, manage wildlife, promote social forestry and, at the same time, be efficient in the marketing of forest products. There is a clear need for the development of specialized training opportunities. At present a number of such programmes are offered in India (see Table) but many more need to be started.

Specialized training can only be meaningful when officers, on completion of training, are posted to jobs in their field of specialization. Currently, administrative inefficiency all too often results in officers spending their whole career working in a sector that is completely unrelated to their area of specialization, with the consequent loss of any positive impact.

Specialized training institutes
Name of training institute¹	Specialized training subjects
Indian Institute of Remote Sensing	Remote sensing Geographical information systems
Forest Survey of India	Inventory preparation Forest mapping
Wildlife Institute of India	Wildlife management
Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute	Soil and water conservation techniques Watershed management
Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education	Forestry research management Wood-based industries Non-wood forest products

¹ All of the institutes listed are located in Dehra Dun.