The forester trainees of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department learnt the nuances of wildlife management at a special training workshop at the Tamil Nadu Forest Academy (TNFA) here on Monday.
Sessions
Jointly organised by TNFA and non-governmental organisation Osai, experts in the field of wildlife management and conservation conducted five sessions on various topics for the trainees.
A.J.T. Johnsingh, former Dean of the Wildlife Institute of India, conducted a session on the overview of India's wilderness for the trainees.
This was followed by a session on the science and practice of tiger conservation in India by K. Sankar, Director of the Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History.
Topics
The trainees were briefed about wildlife behaviour and human-wildlife interaction by N.S. Manoharan, Additional Director (retired) of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Forest Veterinary officer, Tamil Nadu.
While B. Ramakrishnan, Assistant Professor in Wildlife Biology at Government Arts College, Udhagamandalam, spoke on biodiversity values and issues in the Western Ghats, D. Boominathan, landscape coordinator of the WWF-India, elaborated on the contribution of WWF in wildlife management in Tamil Nadu.
Contributions of NCF
The training ended with a session by M. Ananda Kumar, scientist with Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), on the contributions of NCF in wildlife management in the State.
I. Anwardeen, Assistant Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Director of TNFA, V. Priyadarshini, Deputy Conservator of Forests and Deputy Director of TNFA, R. Rajmohan, Deputy Conservator of Forests and Principal of Tamil Nadu Forest Training College, Vaigai Dam, K. Kalidasan, president of Osai, also spoke.
