Short Courses

Short courses and workshops of one to three weeks duration and workshops are conducted on specific themes and techniques in various subject areas. These allow participants from a wide range of target groups such as from zoos and veterinary institutions, central services, law enforcement agencies and the armed forces, non-governmental organizations and others, which are otherwise not covered by the institute’s regular courses. Some such courses and workshops conducted regularly are:

There are two courses of one week and two weeks duration. These are compulsory for officers of the Indian Forest Service of the rank of Chief Conservator of Forests, Conservator of Forests, Deputy Conservator of Forests and Assistant Conservator of Forests . The courses present an overview of conservation issues and discuss strategies to overcome these, keeping in mind the concerns of the communities living in the vicinity.

This 10-day course is open to participants from protected areas, zoos, armed forces, NGOs, wildlife tour agencies and nature camp organizers, and formal and non-formal educators. It enables participants to learn various approaches and methods of presenting ideas and information for public consumption, and equips them with necessary technical skills for effective communication.

There are two courses – one for zoo directors/managers, institutional heads, senior veterinarians and curators, and the other for middle level zoo supervisory officers and technicians. The courses address the essential components of modern zoo management and introduce participants to the techniques and measures to improve the standards.

This course provides an insight into the environmental issues and problems and seeks to identify direct and indirect involvement of the various environmental groups in conservation. The participants are also acquainted with the techniques of collecting, analyzing and disseminating information on ecological aspects.

The participants of this course include officers from Customs, Police, Revenue Intelligence, CBI, Wildlife and Forests departments, the legal profession, Coast Guards, Border Security Forces, other Para-military forces, and NGOs. The course discusses the law and issues related to wildlife trade and poaching, anti-poaching measures in India and the contribution of different agencies in controlling illegal trade in wildlife. There are practical demonstrations in identification of wildlife parts and products by morph metrics and lectures are also given on techniques and methods in wildlife forensics. Often, short courses and workshops are also conducted on specific subjects/techniques, e.g. wildlife population estimation, habitat evaluation, wildlife health, chemical restraint of wild animals, tourism and related aspects, remote sensing and geographical information system, environmental impact assessment.

S. No.	Course	Target Group	Objectives	No. of courses organised till April 2000	No. of participants till April 2000
1.	One-week course in Wildlife Management for IFS officers	Vertically integrated course for IFS officers	To provide orientation in wildlife conservation imperatives	9	171
2.	Two-week course in Wildlife Management for IFS officers	-do-	-do-	4	69
3.	Three-week course in Wildlife Management for IFS officers	For PA Managers	To provide orientation in wildlife conservation and management to officers posted in PAs but who do not have formal training in PA management.	5	81
4.	Two-week course in Interpretation and Conservation Education for forest officers	For PA and Zoo Managers, NGOs., Defense Personnel and others.	To impart skills and techniques of conservation education, wildlife interpretation and communication.	4	66
5.	One-week course for AIS and Central Service officers	For senior AIS and Group 'A' Service officers	To provide orientation in wildlife conservation and land-use aspects of environmental security.	1	20
6.	One-week workshop in Environment and Nature Conservation	For Army Officers	Orientation to nature conservation and role of Army.	5	140
7.	Capsule course in Zoo Management	For senior and middle level zoo professionals	To formulate improved management strategy for captive wildlife	8	171
Total				36	718