Forestry education: an aid to forestry management in India

The total forest cover of India is 678,333 sq km, which constitutes 20.64 percent of the geographic area of the country , plays a significant role in biodiversity protection, global environmental conservation, landslide prevention and soil preservation, headwater conservation, health, recreational and cultural, material production, and poverty alleviation. The restrictedness of Indian biodiversity is very high. About 33 percent of the country's recorded flora and fauna are endemic to the country and are concentrated in the regions of North-East to North-West Himalayas, Western Ghats (UN Heritage Site) and the Andaman Nicobar islands. However, to achieve an accelerated growth of food and industrial output to meet the requirements of ever increasing population of India, the forests and biodiversity came under adverse attack leading to habitat degradation. Forestry and wildlife go together since forests serve as home for wildlife. Forest wealth also contributes significantly to the economy of the country. Specially trained personnel are therefore needed to maintain and regenerate the forest cover, forest wealth and resources. Various courses in forestry are available at the graduate, postgraduate and diploma level, as well as at the PhD level. The study of forestry can be taken up in the form of a bachelor's degree program (B.Sc. Forestry), a 3- or 4-yr degree course at various universities in the country. The minimum qualification required to join the B.Sc. Forestry course is a pass in plus two or equivalent examination with science or agriculture as the group of subject. The B.Sc. course follows a 2 year M.Sc. in Forestry. Post Graduate Diploma in Forest Management is a field-based course, which combines managerial qualities concordant with the demands of the forestry sector. After completing the course, forestry specialists, forest management experts and forest officers take care of forest resources by protecting them from fire, pests, disease, encroachment and indiscriminate felling of trees. India has established 490 sanctuaries, 88 national parks and 12 biosphere reserves for in-situ conservation as well as botanical gardens and zoos established for ex-situ conservation.