Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun
Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) is an apex body in the national forestry research system. It undertakes the holistic promotion of forestry research through need based planning, promoting, conducting and coordinating research, education and extension covering all aspects of forestry.
Its objectives are:
1. To undertake, aid, promote and coordinate forestry education, research and their applications.
2. To develop and maintain a national library and information centre for forestry and allied sciences.
3. To act as a clearing-house for research and general information related to forests and wildlife.
4. To develop forestry extension programmes and propagate the same through mass media, audio-visual aids and extension machinery.
The ICFRE has eight Regional Research Institutes and four Research Centres located in different bio-geographical regions of the country to cater the forestry research needs of the nation.
The institutes are:
1. Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun
2. Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB), Coimbatore
Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding is a national institute formed in April, 1988 under the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), an autonomous council under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Its mandate is to identify and evolve varieties of species used in afforestation and social forestry that will contribute to the national goal of achieving a growth of 3 to 4 cubic meters of biomass per ha per year within the ecological considerations applicable to the area.
3. Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST), Bangalore
The institute originally came into existence as Forest Research Laboratory (FRL) at Bangalore in 1938, instituted by the Government of Mysore. In 1956, this laboratory was organized as a regional centre of Forest Research Institute and Colleges, Dehra Dun. In 1977, Sandal Research Centre was set up to undertake research on wide-ranging aspects of genetics, silviculture and management of sandal, a valuable tree well distributed all over Southern India.
The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) upgraded the Forest Research Laboratory in 1988 and named it as Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST) merging Sandal Research Centre and Minor Forest Products Unit functioning in the same campus.
It conducts research on wood science and technology as a national objective and focuses its research problems to important forestry research needs of the States of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Goa at a regional level.
4. Tropical Forest Research Institute (TFRI), Jabalpur
Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur came into existence in April 1988, although its origin goes back to 1973 when a Regional Centre of FRI, Dehradun was established at Jabalpur to provide research support to the problems of forest management in central India.
5. Rain Forest Research Institute (RFRI), Jorhat
Rain Forest Research Institute (RFRI), at Jorhat, central Assam, is one of the constituent institutes under Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), an autonomous council under Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India. The Institute was established in 1988 to extend knowledge on forestry related issues through research, education and extension in general and to support forestry research of northeastern states viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, in particular.
6. Arid Forest Research Institute (AFRI), Jodhpur
7. Himalayan Forest Research Institute (HFRI), Shimla
Himalayan Forest Research Institute (HFRI), Shimla, Himachal Pradesh was established as High Level Conifer Regeneration Research Centre during May, 1977 for carrying out research on problem associated with natural regeneration of Silver Fir and Spruce. The institute made its humble beginning by starting functioning from a single room in "Kennedy House" and later with the increased research activities of this centre, an independent building "Press Villa" near U.S. club was allotted to it during 1978.
8. Institute of Forest Productivity (IFP), Ranchi
Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal
IIFM, as a sectoral management institute, imparts education in forest management, which is a judicious mixture of forestry, social, and management science. The Institute constantly endeavours to keep in touch with the problems of people, especially the forest dwellers and undertakes need-based research.
