Union Minister Bhupender Yadav launched a workshop on the Capacity Enhancement for Effective Forest Management Project in New Delhi on 25 September 2026, in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The seven year project will run from FY26 to FY32 across all states to strengthen the skills of frontline forest personnel. With a total outlay of ₹537.10 crore, it links field training, research and technology to better fire control, biodiversity protection and climate action.
What Is Forest Management and Why Is It Important?
Forest management is the planned use, protection and renewal of forests so they keep giving timber, clean water, clean air, wildlife habitat and livelihoods while staying healthy for the future. In India it includes preparing working plans for each forest division, patrolling against encroachment and poaching, controlling forest fires, planting new trees, protecting catchment areas and working with village communities who depend on forests.
Forest management in India matters because forests cover more than one fifth of the land, store large amounts of carbon, feed major rivers and support the livelihoods of crores of tribal and rural families. Healthy forests lower the damage from floods and droughts, protect biodiversity in hotspots like the Western Ghats and the Northeast, and help India meet its climate promises under the Paris Agreement and its goal of net zero emissions by 2070. When management is weak, fires spread fast, wildlife habitat breaks into small patches and local incomes fall, which is why trained field staff and science based plans are central to the new project.
What Is JICA and What Is the Capacity Enhancement Project?
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is the agency of the Government of Japan that carries out Official Development Assistance (ODA) through soft loans, grants and technical cooperation. JICA supports partner countries in infrastructure, health, agriculture, education and environment, and it works in India through yen loans for metros, water supply, agriculture and forestry.
The Project for Capacity Enhancement for Effective Forest Management is a JICA supported technical cooperation and loan project with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) as the executing agency. The project aims to strengthen the ability of forest administrators to carry out policy by improving research, business development through pilot projects and training systems focused on climate change response through forest and biodiversity conservation. The project will help India create additional carbon sinks, improve ecosystem services that reduce flood and drought risk, and prepare a revised forest policy framework.
The Union Minister Bhupender Yadav launched the project workshop in New Delhi on 25 September 2026. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change organised the workshop with JICA India. Senior officers of the Ministry, JICA Senior Representative Eiji Wakamatsu, forest departments of states and union territories, research institutions and central training institutes joined the event. The Ministry released a project brochure at the workshop and held a technical session on objectives, JICA perspectives and interaction with states and training bodies.
The financial and time frame of the project is fixed for seven years and covers the whole country.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Project period | FY26 to FY32 (2025-26 to 2031-32), seven years |
| Total outlay | ₹537.10 crore |
| JICA share | ₹440.42 crore through ODA loan, signed on 27 March 2025 for 8,280 million yen |
| Central government share | ₹96.68 crore |
| Coverage | All states in India, with priority to new participating states and continued support to states covered in the earlier phase |
| Executing agency | Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change |
The Minister stressed region specific training modules that reflect local knowledge and field challenges. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has listed research for practical technology solutions, pilot projects for field testing, stronger practice oriented training in institutions and sharing of best practices with SAARC and other developing countries as the core work areas. JICA India has said the second phase will focus on wood based livelihoods, digital tools for forest monitoring and joint academic research between Indian and Japanese institutions.
Frontline Forest Staff and Training Institutions in India
Frontline forest personnel are the field staff who actually protect forests on the ground. The chain includes forest guards who patrol beats, prevent illegal felling and poaching and report fires, foresters who supervise guards and manage nurseries and plantations, and range officers who head a range and carry out working plans. Above them are divisional forest officers from the state service and officers of the Indian Forest Service, which is one of the three All India Services created in 1966 for management of forests and wildlife.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has said the new project responds to the wider duties now placed on these staff. A forest guard today must handle wildlife rescue, control forest fires that are becoming more frequent in dry summers, use GPS and mobile apps for patrolling, settle conflicts between humans and animals and explain rights and benefits to forest dependent communities. Classroom teaching alone does not prepare staff for these tasks, so the project calls for field practice, modern tools and best practices drawn from local communities.
Training for the sector rests on a national network. The Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, established in 1982 under the Ministry, provides education in forest and natural resource management. The Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, established in 1906, leads forestry research and trains officers of the Indian Forest Service. The Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), Dehradun, trains Indian Forest Service probationers, while state forest training schools train guards, foresters and range officers. The JICA project will strengthen these institutions to deliver practice oriented courses, updated curricula on fire management, biodiversity conservation and climate action, and digital learning support.
Institutional Framework for Forest Management in India
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the nodal ministry for forests, wildlife, pollution control and climate policy. The Ministry frames the National Forest Policy, administers key forest laws, gives prior approval for diversion of forest land for non forest use and guides state forest departments. Bhupender Yadav is the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (as of September 2026). The Director General of Forests and Special Secretary heads the forestry wing, supported by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) and central training bodies.
The Forest Survey of India, headquartered in Dehradun and established in 1981, assesses the forest resources of the country every two years through the India State of Forest Report (ISFR). The Forest Survey of India uses satellite data, field surveys and sample plots to estimate forest cover, tree cover, mangrove cover, growing stock, bamboo resources and carbon stock. Forest cover means land larger than one hectare with tree canopy density above 10 percent, while tree cover means tree patches outside recorded forest areas that are smaller than one hectare.
The ISFR 2023, the 18th assessment in the series, gives the baseline on which better management must build.
| Indicator in ISFR 2023 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Forest cover | 7,15,343 sq km, which is 21.76 percent of the geographical area |
| Tree cover | 1,12,014 sq km, which is 3.41 percent of the geographical area |
| Total forest and tree cover | 8,27,357 sq km, which is 25.17 percent of the geographical area |
| Mangrove cover | 4,992 sq km |
| Largest forest cover by state | Madhya Pradesh (77,073 sq km), followed by Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh |
India has set a national goal of bringing forest and tree cover to 33 percent of the land area under the National Forest Policy, 1988. Globally, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), headquartered in Rome, ranked India 9th in total forest area and 3rd in net annual forest area gain in its Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025. The assessment also placed India 5th among global carbon sinks, with its forests removing about 150 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year during 2021 to 2025. These figures show progress but also underline pressure from urban growth, infrastructure needs and dependence of communities on fuelwood and grazing, which skilled field management must balance.
Legal and Policy Framework for Forest Conservation in India
The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 is the central law for checking deforestation. The Act requires prior approval of the central government before any state government diverts forest land for non forest purposes such as mining, dams or roads, or assigns forest land to a private body. The Act came into force on 25 October 1980. Parliament amended the law through the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023, which received assent on 4 August 2023 and renamed the short title as the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980. The 2023 amendment added a preamble linking forests to net zero by 2070 and to creation of an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes by 2030, clarified the categories of land covered and provided exemptions for strategic projects near borders, small roadside facilities and plantations on non forest land.
The Forest Rights Act, 2006, formally called the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, recognises individual and community rights of tribal and traditional dwellers over forest land, minor forest produce and grazing. The National Forest Policy, 1988 remains the guiding policy and seeks one third forest and tree cover, protection of ecologically fragile areas and meeting of local fuelwood, fodder and timber needs through social forestry and farm forestry. Social forestry means growing trees on village commons, wastelands and farmlands outside recorded forests to reduce pressure on natural forests. Joint Forest Management (JFM), started through central guidelines in 1990, brings village committees and the forest department together to protect degraded forests and share usufructs and sale proceeds. Sustainable forest management builds on this idea and means using criteria and indicators for ecological health, production, biodiversity and community benefits so forests meet present needs without harming future supply. The Bhopal India Process, anchored at the Indian Institute of Forest Management, developed eight national criteria and related indicators for this purpose.
Forest fires form a core concern of the new capacity project. The Forest Survey of India tracks active fire alerts through satellites during the November to June fire season, and most fires are linked to dry leaf litter, farm residue burning and high summer temperatures in central India and the Himalayan pine belt. Better watchtowers, fire lines, water storage, early warning messages, use of GIS and drones, and quick response teams led by trained guards can limit the spread. The project therefore links legal duties under forest laws with practical skills in fire prevention, biodiversity surveys and community work.
India Japan Forestry Cooperation Over Three Decades
JICA cooperation with India in forestry began in the early 1990s and now spans nearly three decades. JICA has supported about 29 forestry and natural resource projects in India with cumulative ODA loan commitments of about 341 billion yen by December 2024. Plantations under JICA supported projects have covered close to 3 million hectares across 14 states, including Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland, Tripura and West Bengal. The projects have formed more than 18,000 Joint Forest Management committees and about 24,000 self help groups, with benefits reported for more than 7 lakh people through higher incomes, nurseries, non timber produce and small enterprises.
The earlier national project on capacity development for forest management and personnel training received national recognition for excellence in training. The new project builds on that base but shifts focus from state level plantations to national systems for research, pilot testing and training. The design includes collaborative study between Indian institutions such as the Forest Survey of India and the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education and Japanese universities and research bodies. The aim is to develop low cost tools for mapping, fire alerts and growth measurement, and to position India as a knowledge hub for the Global South in forest management and climate resilience.
The Way Forward
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has asked states, research bodies and training institutes to turn workshop talks into field action. Region specific modules must combine traditional knowledge of local communities with scientific methods and new technology. Digital records of beats, regular refresher courses for guards and foresters, and pilot projects that are measured for survival rate of plantations, reduction in fire incidents and growth in local incomes will show whether capacity gains are real. Sharing of results with SAARC neighbours and other developing countries can extend the impact beyond India while strengthening India Japan ties in climate and biodiversity work.
Key Takeaways
- The Capacity Enhancement for Effective Forest Management Project workshop was launched in New Delhi on 25 September 2026 by Bhupender Yadav with JICA.
- The project runs from FY26 to FY32 across all states with a total outlay of ₹537.10 crore, including ₹440.42 crore from JICA and ₹96.68 crore from the central government.
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, with the Forest Survey of India headquartered in Dehradun, is the executing institutional framework for the project.
- As per ISFR 2023, India has 7,15,343 sq km of forest cover and total forest and tree cover of 25.17 percent, against the 33 percent goal of the National Forest Policy, 1988.
- The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 requires central approval for diversion of forest land, and the 2023 amendment links forest protection to net zero by 2070 and an extra carbon sink of 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes by 2030.
- JICA, the Official Development Assistance agency of Japan, has supported about 29 forestry projects in India covering 3 million hectares and benefiting more than 7 lakh people.
