Director General's Message

Greetings from ICFRE family and a warm welcome to our website.  We would like to provide substantial  information connected to the glorious history of this institute.

I request the pleasure of your company on an introductory tour through the overarching goals and institutional thrust areas of Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE). Brief it has to be, as the more detailed information is offered on this website elsewhere. 

1. ICFRE is primarily about forestry research and education, as its name suggests. As the very nature of forest management in India relates largely to Government owned forest lands and its users, our work, mandatorily, has to relate to Forest Departments and the communities who benefit from forest resources. With the efforts of this institute, technologies were developed for expanding the tree cover on private lands and farms in India which now stands at approximately 93,000 sq. km. Besides this, we are also concerned with issues on a global scale as challenges on climate change, increasing human population and food and water security.

2. The ICFRE is the Apex organization in the country for advising the Government of India, the State Governments and other stakeholders like farmers, industries and academia on matters relating to forestry research and technologies for meeting the new challenges in the field of forest conservation. We are also having collaborative research with other countries like Australia, Laos, Combodia etc.

3. This Council was created in 1986 as an autonomous body to oversee the emerging challenges in the forestry sector. The Forest Research Institute and other regional institutes of the ICFRE have contributed in evolving management technologies for more than 150 years of scientific forestry in India and elsewhere. This is the oldest organization of forestry research in the tropical half of the world. One of the oldest peer reviewed forestry Journal i.e., Indian Forester is published by this Council. To cater to the emerging needs, the Indian Forester is being given a new shape by involving the international experts in our Editorial Board.

4. The Council is also building the HRD Capacity of Industries through the M.Sc programme on Forestry, Environment Management, Wood Science and Technology and Cellulose and Paper by the FRI Deemed University. Our students have 100% placement records.

5. The Council is actively involved in the deliberations on climate change as an observer of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It also participated in meetings of Conference of the Parties (COP) and Subsidiary Bodies in Nairobi and Bali. ICFRE has become the first Designated Operational Entity (DOE) from India to be accredited by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for validation, verification and certification of CDM projects under the sectoral scope of 'Afforestation and Reforestation' (A/R).

6. The Council has also established a platform for networking with partners on Forest Invasive Species. Technologies and protocols developed in the fields of silviculture, agroforesty, biotechnology, tree improvement, wood technology, forest products, and environmental management practices were extended to user agencies through short and long term courses, workshops, trainings, and awareness programmes.

7. The Council extends expertise in the form of consultancy to a varied clientele. These include, to name a few, hydropower firms, mining companies, water supply agencies etc. Expertise was also extended to the municipalities for tree avenue maintenance, and development of tree groves and avenues. 

8. For countrywide improvement in forestry education, financial support is provided to various universities imparting forestry education. Much emphasis is given on the quality of forestry education and placement of forestry students of FRI University.

9. The research institutes of our Council have decided to shift their focus on research work towards meeting the challenges of livelihood issues for the rural poor and the tribal people living on the fringes of the forests. We are also giving new thrust to transfer of technology directly to the consumers for immediate results and benefit to the people.

10. We have recently launched a Scheme “Direct to Consumer” to immediately benefit the user of our research activities.

I hope that this website provides you sufficient information of our activities. In order to continuously improve our communication with you, I welcome any feedback from you. 

Dr. V.K. Bahuguna
Director General, ICFRE 
and Chancellor, FRI University