Table Of ContentEditorial
Indian Conservation Service?
T'heIndianForestServicewasstartedbyBritishcolonistsmainlytoextractforestresourcesandexportthemtoBritain,and
to strengthen colonization in India. Conservation and sustainable usepracticedby some forestcommunities andprivate
forest owners at that time was of least consideration for the British. The officers were trained in forestry operations for
extracting timberand otherresources, and making profit. Therefore, the Service needed ‘custodian’ officers, some ruthless,
whocouldusethe ‘native labour’ forthe ‘operations’. Providingshikartothevisitingdignitarieswasawelcomedistraction,
which many officers liked because they themselves enjoyed hunting. Whatever wildlife conservation was undertaken, was
withthe aimtoprovide ‘goodgame’tothe BadaSahibandtheroyalty. Forthisjob, one did not needaqualifiedofficerwith
biologybackground,asthebiologyaspectinthisextractiveforestrywasratherlimitedtoknowingsomecommercialtreesand
‘game’ animals;thiscouldbetaughteasilyduringthe2-yeartrainingintheForestResearchInstitute,Dehradun.Therewasno
doubt that there were some fine officers in the service who based forest management on good science, but these were
exceptions. Moreover, mostoftheirresearchwas confinedto study the growthofcommercialplant species,how, where and
when toplantthese speciestomaximizeresults, thinningorremovalofunwantedtreesandundergrowth, andhow toprotect
themfromfrost,rain/droughtorwildanimals,andintroductionoffast-growingexotictreesforcommercialpuipose.Graduation
wasthe onlybasic degree onerequiredtoappearforthe Forest Service examination.
Unfortunately, even after Independence in 1947, we carried on the legacy ofthe British. As far as forests (and forest
dwellers) were concerned, only the exploiters had changed but not the exploitation offorest resources. As these resources
shrunk, the number offorest officers went up, ostensibly to ‘protect’ the forest. As wildlife decreased due to hunting and
poaching, sanctuaries were established, but they were ‘managed’ mostly by territorial forest officers whorarely had time to
lookafterwildlife,asextractionoftimberbroughtmoremoney,accoladeandpromotion.Generally,individualsnotwantedin
forestryoperations,orwithnoappropriatecontactstomanagealucrativeforestryposting, weremadewildlifewarden,ifthat
posteverexistedinaforestdivision!AfterenactmentoftheWildlife(Protection)Actin 1972,manymorewildlifesanctuaries
weredeclared,mainlyduetotheinterestofMrs.IndiraGandhi,buttheworkingoftheForestDepartmentdidnotchange.Most
ofthe new IFS officials were still from a non-biology background, and most ofthem with no inherent interest in forest and
wildlife.Fromthemid 1970s,theroleofForestDepartmentchangedfromexploitationtoconservation. Byearly 1980s,there
was a total ban on cutting of natural forest. The pressure on reserve forests and protected areas increased due to human
population increase, the so-called ‘development’ projects, political exigencies and societal demands, but the attitude ofthe
forestofficersremainedunchangedduetotheiracademicbackgroundandtraining. Bothsystematicecologicalknowledgeand
localcommunityknowledgeremainedbyandlargenotintegratedinwildlifemanagement.
Indianowhasmorethan600sanctuariesandnationalparks,andsomeconservationandcommunityreserves.Moreover,
wildlifealsolivesoutsidethePAsysteminreserveforestsandinlargerlandscapeandseascape.Wildlifemanagementconcept
haschangedfrom ‘no-hands’ approachto active management, particularly consideringthe size ofourPAs, including taking
thelandscape approach, tryingoutcommunity-basedmethods, and so on. New conservationconceptshavebeendeveloped,
newmethodologiesareavailable,butwildlifeofficialdomremainsinitsfossilizedshell,impervioustothechangestakingplace
all around. Other than a handful of officials who are trained in institutions like the Wildlife Institute of India, the Forest
Departmentremains ecologicallyilliterate. There are someexceptionally goodforestofficersinevery state ofIndia, whodo
theirduty withdedication. The days when the fate ofourwildlifeis lefttoanuninterestedmiddle-age wildlife guardandhis
equally uninterested bosses should be over. In this age ofsuper-specialization, would one appoint ageneral practitionerfor
thejobofaspecialistin amedicalinstitute?Unfortunately, onlyinthe IndianForestServiceanon-biologistornon-ecologist
isappointedtolookafterissuesofecology,habitatmanagement,wildlifediseases,man-animalconflicts,conservation breeding,
etc.,andlocalcommunityexpertswiththeirgenerationsofexperiencestillhavenoroleinofficialwildlifemanagement.
What are the fresh candidates of Forest Service taught? I quote from the Indian Forest Service (Probationers Final
Examination)Regulations,2005,gazettenotification:ElementaryBiology/Mathematics,ElementaryBiologyPractical,Overview
of Forestry, Forest Statistics, Geology, Soil Science, Soil, Water and Land Management, and Computer Awareness and
Applications in Forestry. This is in the Introductory Phase. In the Professional Phase I, they have the following subjects:
ForestMensuration,ForestBiometry,SystematicBotany,ForestEcology,SilviculturalPractices,ForestEconomics,Silvicultural
Systems,ForestsPolicy,LawandConventions,andBiodiversityConservation.Thereisanotherphase,whichtheEFSnotification
callsPhaseII, whereForestSurvey,RemoteSensingandGIS,ForestEngineering,WildlifeManagement,ForestProduction,
Non-timberForestProduce,andWoodTechnology,HarvestingandIndustries.Manyofthesetopicsaretaughtin5-6lectures!
Andwhatarethesubjectstaughtinthesevarioustopics?Takingonlytwosubjects, ‘ElementaryBiology’and ‘Wildlife
Management’ as an example, see what an IFS probationeris taught: Botany: Morphology-classification ofplantkingdom;
parts ofan angiospermic plant, the seed, germination, root, stem- theirfunctions and modification; the leaf, inflorescence,
flowerandfruit.Histology-thecell,thetissues,celldivision,histologyofstems,rootandleaf.Secondarygrowth.Physiology
- absoiption, and conduction of water and mineral salts, metabolism - photosynthesis, respiration, nitrogen fixation and
reproduction.TreeGenetics-geneticsanditsapplicationtoplantimprovement, andDNAfingerprinting.
Zoology: Classification of animal kingdom - economic importance and distinguishing features of different classes.
TheoryandPracticalareof10markseach,outofthetotalof865marks! Interestingly, ‘WildlifeManagement’,whichamanager
ofaPAhastolookashis/hermainjobisofonly35marks,andthatalsoonlytheory,nopractical.Practicalwildlifemanagement
is taughtduring variousfieldvisits ofothersubjectsorduring whirlwindall-Indiatourofthe probationers.
Justimagine,inthisagewhenwildlifemanagementhasbecomeahighlyprofessionaljoballovertheworld,westillhave
forest officers with elementary biology background*. In the complex world ofecology, even after 30 years ofresearch one
learnseveryday,butanIFSofficerwithnon-biologybackground,ina2-yeartrainingprogrammebecomesanexpertonwildlife
management! Formany such officers, real wildlife experts (even amongst theirown colleagues) are either anuisance oran
irritanttobedisdainfullytolerated.
Equally important, most forestofficials are nottaughtto deal with the real life social and political issues thatconfront
wildlifemanagementbothwithinprotectedareasandinthelargerlandscape,includingrelationswithlocalcommunities,issues
ofland and resource rights, the challenges of ‘development’ policies, issues ofpoverty, and so on.
AsIndiabecomesdeveloped, there isan urgentneedtobringdrasticchange inthe wayourforestofficersareselected.
The first requirement is that the basic qualification for appearing in the Indian Forest Service should be biology or
environmental science, or science at undergraduate level. Secondly, we should have a special Wildlife Service ofwildlife
professionalstolookafterprotectedareasandwildlifemanagement.ThisIndianWildlifeServiceshouldhavelandmanagers,
fieldbiologists, wildlife vets, wildlifecrimedetectors, andsocial scientists whoworkwith localcommunities, as alsopeople
whocome from the communities themselves. Like we have ahighly trained and dedicatedprofessional army, Indianeeds a
dedicatedIndianWildlifeServicewithahumanface,aslocalcommunitiessharespacewithwildlifeinmostofourPAs;toput
itanotherway,wildlifehastosharethespaceinourcrowdedcountrywithmorethanabillionpeoplein6percentoftheworld’s
land. Manycountries, suchasSouthAfrica, Kenya,Tanzania, Botswana, andUSAhaveshownthathighlytrained,dedicated
andprofessionalwildlifemanagerscanrestoredegradedlandsanddepletedwildlife.Wealsohavesomeveryfineofficers,but
mostofourPAs are still ‘managed’ by non-professionals who donothave interest toleam/use new methodologies. Thirdly,
instead of Indian Forest Service, it should be called Indian Conservation Service or Indian Ecosystem Protection Service
becausethese daysmostofthejobofaforestofficerisprotectionofseveral kindsofecosystems, notonlyforests. When we
have changed the term ‘District Collector’ to ‘District Magistrate’, why can’t we change the term Indian Forest Service to
IndianConservationServiceorsomethingsimilar?DuringtheBritishperiod,themainjobofacollectorwastocollectrevenue
for the colonial power, but now it is to administer the district, with revenue generation being only a small part ofthejob.
Similarly, the mainjobofan IFS officerwas forestry operations-cutting timberand generatingrevenue. During the last60
yearsaswehavechangedfromproductionforestrytoconservationofforest, thereforethereisaneedtochange thetitle.The
Government of India is planning a string of marine protected areas, some of them will be entirely underwater. Will it be
appropriateforamarineprotectedareatobe ‘managed’ byanofficeroftheForestService, wheremarineecologyisnoteven
taught?
AsadR.Rahmani
*RecentlyIndira GandhiNationalForestAcademy, Dehradun hasprepareda draftofthe syllabuson WildlifeManagementtobe taughttoIFS
probationersinabout200lecturesbyexpertsandexperiencedforestofficers. Thisisa verygoodstep in the rightdirection.
(I want to acknowledge the following people for comment/discussion on the earlier draft: B.C. Choudhury, Ashish Kothari, Qamar Qureshi,
Koustubh Sharma,Jayant Kulkami and Prachi Kulkami. However, theviewsexpressed intheeditorialare mine.)
246 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 105 (3), Sep-Dec 2008
