One of the lessons learned from the predecessor Forest-PLUS program is that there is a need to develop leadership skills among female foresters. Therefore, one of the priorities within the Forest-PLUS 2.0 program is to address gender-specific barriers to women’s participation, as foresters and as community members, within forest management decision-making processes.

Barriers that women face in accessing a variety of economic opportunities within their communities are identified, and capacity-building activities are organized to help them to overcome these barriers.

To date, three gender-focused training programs and nine workshops have been conducted in each of the three landscapes to strengthen the leadership skills of female foresters.

While state governments have begun to implement the ecosystem approach in forest management (EAFM), introduced during the previous Forest-PLUS program, there is a need to build on this foundation.

A key focus during the current phase is to strengthen the capacities of stakeholders to apply the EAFM methodology at different levels of forest management from the state to the community level.

A first step towards introducing and building understanding of our stakeholders on EAFM, trainings and workshops are organized by Forest-PLUS 2.0. Topics such as biodiversity conservation, EcoSs, sustainable forest management, and the role of community in forest conservation are covered in these orientations. To ensure that these were well communicated introductory sessions on EAFM, Ecosystem Services are also conducted during meetings and interactions with the mid-level and senior forest officials.

Further an eLearning course on EAFM is being developed by Forest-PLUS 2.0. This capacity building program aims to enable forest frontline staff to acquire an understanding of the basic skills to shift from traditional forest management to a holistic and more proactive integrated forest management. This is important as the field staff is directly involved in data collection and other areas relevant for the preparation of Working Plans.

The Forest-PLUS 2.0 team organized training programs for forest department staff in the selected states and staff of national-level institutions on the use of modern tools for planning and managing ecosystem services from forest landscapes. The objective of these training programs is to orient field staff on data collection using the Van (Forest) app as per the National Working Plan Code (NWPC)-2014 guidelines.

More than 240 participants have received training on the use of tools for managing forests to enhance multiple ecosystem services.

Further training will also be organized for ground staff in the application of low-cost systems for monitoring land-use practices outside of forest lands

The Forest-PLUS 2.0 team is applying a long-term focus, engaging with forest training institutions in India to incorporate EAFM into their teaching curricula.

The provision of this forest training in the EAFM approach within mainstream forestry education will yield rich dividends in the future. A broad-based focus on the entire gamut of ecosystem services provided by forests will contribute not only to increasing India’s forest cover but also to preserving and enhancing biodiversity and providing economic opportunities for forest users.

The Forest-PLUS 2.0 team has organized four EAFM-focused training programs for Forest Research Institute, Dehradun (FRI), Central Academy for State Forest Service (CASFOS), Indra Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) and The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI). These training inputs will ensure that future forest managers understand and can effectively implement basic EAFM principles and practices

One of the three overarching objectives of the Forest-PLUS 2.0 program is to increase economic opportunities from improved landscape management. Therefore, training programs, workshops, and exposure visits will be organized for forest-dependent communities, enterprise owners, and producer organizations to strengthen enterprises positioned within selected value chains of non-timber or agroforestry products. Areas of capacity building will include enterprise development, community-based ecotourism, and market exposure and engagement.

For the Thiruvananthapuram landscape trainings have been conducted on cultivation of NTFPs/ medicinal plants, Sustainable Harvesting Protocols, Cheruthen Beekeeping practices, NTFP cultivation and Nature Camp Management.

Capacity Building programs in the Gaya landscape have been conducted on Moringa Enterprise, Neem Seed, Sabai Grass and CBET while trainings on agroforestry value chains, custard apple enterprises, neem seed and CBET for Telangana landscape.

So far, around 50 capacity building interventions have been carried out reaching out to over 1600 members of the community (EDCs, VSSs and SHGs) with over 50 % participation of women.