Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) is a forest service training institute under the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India, which was originally as Indian Forest College, established in 1938 for training of senior forest officers. It is situated in the New Forest campus of Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun. IGNFA is currently functioning as a staff college for the officers of the Indian Forest Service (IFS). The primary mandate of the academy is to impart knowledge and skills to the professional foresters and help them to develop competence for managing the country's forest and wildlife resources on a sustainable basis. In the academy training is provided at different levels of seniority in the Indian Forest Service besides training the new entrants to the service.

History

The academy was constituted in the year 1987 by renaming the Indian Forest College, which was established in 1938 for training senior forest officers. On 25 May 1987, Indian Forest College upgraded to National Forest Academy through a resolution and given a formal name "Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy". The Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) stands as a prestigious institution in India, dedicated to the training and professional development of forestry officers and other stakeholders in forest management.

Training programmes

Location

It is situated in the New Forest campus of Forest Research Institute (FRI) on Chakrata Road (NH-72), five kilometers from Dehradun town. The 1100 acres campus is bounded by the river Tons in the north and Chakrata road on the south. Large parts of the campus are still covered with natural forest and dense experimental plantations. The campus is situated at an altitude of 670 m. above mean sea level and receives over 200 cm of rainfall annually. It can be best approached from Dehradun city through Chakrata road. The hostels, guest house, auditorium and playgrounds of the academy are also located in the campus, whereas the housing colony for the faculty and staff is located on Chakrata road opposite the New Forest campus.