Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav interacted with participants of the Mid-Career Training Phase-III (19) of the Indian Forest Service on October 12, 2026, in New Delhi. The event was attended by senior officials including Secretary Narendra Bhooshan, DG (Forests) Santosh Tiwari, ADG (Wildlife) Ramesh Pandey, and IGNFA Director Rajendra Prasad Khajuria.
Minister Yadav acknowledged the IFS officers' contributions to safeguarding India's forests, wildlife, and ecological heritage while highlighting India's progress in wildlife conservation, increased forest and tree cover, carbon sequestration, woodland/wetland conservation, and landscape restoration through citizen-engaging initiatives such as Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam, MISHTI, Aravalli Green Wall, and Nagar Van Yojana. He emphasized that the vision of 'Viksit Bharat@2047' must integrate economic development with ecological security and identified human-wildlife conflict, forest fires, climate change, and balancing development with conservation as major challenges requiring scientific approaches and community participation.
The Minister urged IFS officers to move beyond traditional regulatory functions and become leaders, innovators, and facilitators of sustainable development. He stressed the importance of emerging technologies including GIS, remote sensing, and artificial intelligence, alongside continuous capacity building and community engagement utilizing traditional knowledge. Officers were encouraged to strengthen institutions, adopt innovative approaches for efficient decision-making and forest management plans, and uphold their responsibility toward safeguarding India's ecological future.
The Mid-Career Training Programme 2026, organized by Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy from October 12 to November 6, 2026, is designed for IFS officers with 7-9 years of service. The program includes 68 participants from 18 cadres with professional interests spanning wildlife conservation governance, climate-resilient forestry, habitat restoration, landscape restoration, and environmental policy implementation. The program structure includes a Line Ministry Module for exposure to key Central Ministries, thematic visits to Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh focusing on best practices, a Management Module covering leadership and decision-making, and a Forestry Module addressing emerging issues including environmental conventions, AI in forestry, and climate finance.