BHOPAL (India CSR): The Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal successfully organised India-UK knowledge exchange on forest standards, certification and products traceability with the support of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India(GoI) and the UK Government. This workshop is part of the larger piece of work proposed to be delivered through India-UK PACT (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions) on timber traceability and certification in agroforestry sector.
The workshop was inaugurated in the presence of Shri Aseem Srivastava, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Head of Forest Force, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, Dr. K. Ravichandran, Director, IIFM, Shri Amit Anand, Deputy Inspector General of Forest, MoEFCC, Government of India, Mr. Owain Roberts, Head of Climate Change Policy, British High Commission, and Mr. Manoj Dabas, Country Director, CIFOR-ICRAF.
Owain Roberts, Head of Climate Change Policy, British High Commission, said: “I was delighted to join the workshop at the Institute of Forest Management alongside India’s Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change and the UK’s Forest Research. Since 2021, we have collaborated on forest conservation through the India-UK Forest Partnership. This workshop marks an important step in our collaboration towards promoting sustainable agroforestry, as well as forest product traceability measures which benefit smallholder farmers and strengthen sustainable forest management.
Experts from UK’s Forest Research joined the workshop with other dignitaries including representatives from government, industry, financial institutions, academia and non-governmental organisations.
The Director IIFM, presented an overview of The Indian Forest and Wood Certification Scheme (IFWCS) “PRAMAAN”, launched by Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on 12 December 2023. IFWCS-PRAMAAN is a national initiative by GoI towards assurance of sustainable forest management in the country with a vision to be mutually recognised by other national initiatives available globally. He also emphasised the importance of third-party verification mechanism in certifying forests, trees outside forests as well as wood and non-timber forest products.
The deliberations focused on the UK’s journey and experience in developing and implementing forest certification and product certification systems with different stakeholders and how India can leverage these learnings to strengthen its frameworks. Technical sessions covered a range of thematic areas including:
- Institutional and governance mechanisms supporting forest certification
- Technical standards and operationalisation on the ground
- Inclusion of smallholders and local communities in certification systems
- The role of certification in meeting global due diligence and sustainability requirements
The workshop comprised of breakout sessions, panel discussions contextualizing learnings from UK’s experience to the needs, circumstances and requirements of Indian context. The panelist included representatives from MoEFCC, CIFOR, NABARD, FIPPI, Greenlam and Incube.
The workshop concluded with a consensus on the need for sustained technical cooperation between the two countries and continued stakeholder engagement.
(India CSR)
