By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 12 Nov: Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with International Union of Forest Research Organisation (IUFRO) in February, 2020, to establish formal collaboration with the primary objective of leveraging their complementary competences and capacities to enhance the contribution of forests and forestry to sustainable development, biodiversity, combating climate change and land degradation. ICFRE and IUFRO are in a position to jointly make significant contributions to these global agendas by connecting forest-related science with policies and practices on the ground.
A capacity building workshop of stakeholders in the forestry and natural-resources-related sectors was jointly organised by ICFRE-IUFRO (online) from 9 to 12 November. The conference was attended by PCCF & HoFFs of different state forest departments and their representatives. All Deputy Director Generals, Director (International Cooperation), all ADGs of ICFFE, DDGs, ADGs and Directors of ICFRE institutes, Secretary, ICFRE, Dean, and Registrar FRI, University, Director, KFRI, Peechi, Kerala, Director, ICAR-CAFRI, Jhansi, IUFRO Member organization, PAU, Scientists from other sister organisations and universities, all senior scientists of ICFRE and its institutes, NGOs, etc., took part. During the course of this four day workshop, various aspects of Forest Landscape Restoration were deliberated upon by the Experts from IUFRO which included President IUFRO Dr John Parrotta, Dr Michael Kleine, Dy Executive Director, IUFRO, Prof Jurgen Blaser, Dr Andras Darabant, Dr Vladan Ivetic, Dr Promode Kant, Director, Institute of Green Economy, Prof Sanjeev Chauhan, PAU, Ludhiana, Dr Syam Vishwanath, Director, KFRI, Peechi, Kerala, Dr Alka Bhargava, PCCF &HoFF, Assam, Lokesh Jayaswal, PCCF, Telangana, Dr Meeta Biswal, PCCF Projects, Odisha, Dr Vivek Saxena, Ex IUCN Head, India, Arvind Jha, IFS (Retd), Dr Ravindra Saxena, IFS (Retd), Tambor Lyngdoh, Chief Community Officer, Khasi Hills Community REDD+ Project from Meghalaya besides forest officers from different state forest departments of the country.
The organisation of this workshop makes the MOU operational with the event also coinciding with the start of the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).
Forest landscape Restoration (FLR) is an emerging concept that refers to an approach involving stakeholders in all affected land-use sectors and applying participatory decision-making processes. It is an ongoing process of regaining ecological functionality and enhancing human well-being across degraded and deforested forest landscapes. It is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water, and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use of forest ecosystems in an equitable way. With all their cultural diversity, local communities living within and in proximity are treated as an integral part of these ecosystems.
