For the last seven years, Forest Services Academy Ghoragali Murree has been responsible for professional capacity building of the officers of the Punjab Forest Department. It has been imparting the core professional trainings to the newly selected forest officers in the embryonic phase. The academy has also been organizing shared learning engagements for the Forest officers at various maturity levels co-timed with transitions in their career – from field execution responsibilities to supervisory functions and later at policy & planning roles in the strategic, programmatic and governance areas. These engagements ensure the flourishing of the service to foster the best team of capable and competent administrators, managers and agents and leaders of change.
The responsibilities and roles of the foresters in general and the Forest Service cadre in particular, in steering functions have changed from forest estate and asset administration to their conservation, restoration, rehabilitation, sustainable wise use reckoning the multiple functions of the forests. In this regard, a robust and yet sensitive and responsive cadre of the forestry services have to play the crucial and transformative roles for effective sharing of wisdom, advocacy, communication and facilitation for other key or major stakeholders – community, state organs, the capital and corporate sector, the media and the civil society.
To meet these challenges with competence and ingenuity, the Punjab Forest Department fraternity have to be abreast in the mode of continuous learning and renewal, with the latest revealed wisdom, knowledge and skill resources, and innovation potentials within forestry management arena.
The academy strives to continuously improve and update the training inputs and methodologies and generation, pooling and dissemination of knowledge and skill resources. It keeps on investing in development of infrastructure, facilities and services to facilitate efficient and gainful delivery of the trainings and knowledge sharing.
We maintain network of faculty resource pool from other institutions, academia, expert professionals besides those from Forest Departments and other sister organizations. This ensures quality and value addition in the training programmes and engagements transcending the boundaries of conventional forestry profession which enhances the competence and capability of the academy.
The academy has always been bestowed with guidance and support of Government of Punjab, its other institutes and organizations, Cooperation and support of the other Provincial Forest Departments have always been forthcoming in all spheres – participation of the trainees, training field tours, on-job trainings and the enlightening feedback and assessments.
I welcome critiques and suggestions that may be of utility in improvement and betterment of the academy’s performance in the furtherance of our objectives in the national interests.