Employment Opportunities for Forestry professional degree holders

This is the first ever post in this blog and I would like it to be informative. So I have listed below information regarding the scope of employement for forestry graduates in different sectors prevailing in India.

1. Government sector: In government there is scope for Forestry graduates in sector State Forest Services (SFS). The states like Kerala where only Forestry graduates become the Range officer, similarly such policy also exists in some other states with some proportional reservation to the Forestry graduates, as in Karnataka, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir and most of the North-Eastern states where Forestry graduates join the SFS. Jharkhand and Bihar have given opportunity to the forestry graduates in the recruitment of Forest Development corporation and in soil conservation department as Forest Produce Inspectors and Assistant Soil conservation Officer. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Forestry graduates recruited as Assistant Director of Forest Protection. Apart from this Forestry graduates can be selected in Indian Forest Services (IFS).
2. Academic Institutes/Universities & Research centers: The higher education in the field of Forestry such as master's and Ph.D. programmes from the state agricultural university or any other recognized university/Institutes pursuing the degree in India or abroad is also a bright way to make their career. The forestry professionals having master's degree alongwith NET certificate in Forestry can directly come to the academic profession. In this direction the highly educated Forestry professional can join the University Teaching, research and extension as an Assistant Professor (AP)/Lecturer and Junior Research Officer (JRO)/Research Officer (RO). In KVKs students having two years experience after M. Sc. Agroforestry can apply for the post of Subject Matter Specialist (SMS) in the field of agroforestry. The highly educated forestry professionals can also pursue teaching and research in the institute/Universities abroad. The field of Forestry is still unexplored therefore; there is every possibility to do some innovative research in this field in the years to come for the scientific, ecological and social benefit of the community. The master degree holder in forestry can also become scientist (forestry/agroforestry) by qualifying the Agricultural Research Services (ARS) examination annually conducted by Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board (ASRB) of ICAR, Pusa, New Delhi. Now a days the forestry degree holder are also being absorbed in the private Institutes as tutor of forestry/NRM/Environmental/Agricultural sciences. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) and its affiliated Forestry research institutes, Wildlife Institute of India, Forest Survey of India, Zoological Parks are also the working area for forestry professionals. The field of Remote Sensing and GIS is also absorbing forestry professionals in research and forestry survey work. The award of JRF, SRF, RA and PDF under the projects running in the Institutes/Universities is also the way for getting assistantship to the Forestry educated for some limited time.
3. Banking sector: In the banking forestry graduates are appointing can be sector appointed as Agriculture Officer and Extension Officer. Many banking agencies like NABARD, Syndicate bank, PNB, SBI, Dena Bank, Union Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Bank of Barouda, IDBI etc. are absorbing forestry graduates in rural development activities. The private/public banks are also recruiting or forestry professionals.
4. Self Employment: The forestry/agroforestry professional can launch their own entreprises in the field of Plant Nursery centre, Furniture industry, saw mills, agricultural implements centre, Apiculture, Lac culture, Silk culture, vermiculture etc. Now a days the government of India is providing special two months Agri-clinic Agri-business training to the agricultural and allied graduates including forestry for the self employment and sanctioning loan to the professionals for starting their own enterprise. Beside this the professional can run their own NGO by taking some projects from the funding agencies of Indian or abroad.
5. Private & Public sectors (companies/Industries: In the private and public sector the foresters can take up work either in offices, laboratories, wood based industries or outdoors depending on their field of specialization. The Forest based Industries like Wood Workshop and Saw Mills, Wood Seasoning and Preservation Treatment Plants, Pulp and Paper Industries, Katha Making Industry, Rosin and Terpentine Industry, Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Units, Carpentry and bamboo crafts, Other Wood Products Industries etc. The industries namely Century paper mill, Star paper mills, ITC Bhadrachalam paper boards limited, JK corps limited, Ballarpur Industries limited, Orient paper mills, WIMCO match Industry and Andhra Pradesh paper mills etc require professionally qualified forest managers to run their industries. The scope is also good in big industries as Environmental Expert and quality control manager. The recent trend of Biofuel is also gives the good platform to the forestry professional specially in the company leading in Jatropha cultivation viz. D-1 company, Mission Biofuel, IOCL and Reliance etc. There is a good scope of Forestry degree holder in the tea and coffee companies.
6. NGOs: Employment opportunities exist with non-governmental organizations interested in preservation of forest resources, Corporates having own plantations for timbering. There are series of reputed NGOs which are working in the forestry sectors and recruiting the forestry personnel. The forestry professional are also being recruited in agencies like CAPART, TRIFED, SPWD, PRADAN etc. One can work as a freelance consultant for the forestry based NGOs.
7. Foreign Jobs: The doors are open to the talented and experienced Forestry professionals in the international agencies working in the field of forestry. Some international agencies like International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), World Bank etc. Some bilateral projects with ICIMOD, Nepal, Canadian International Development Agency, Swedish International Development agency also require forestry professionals in forestry and environmental sector; moreover the jobs are highly paying.
8. Outsourcing/ Charted Forester: The present time is the time of Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) and Knowledge Processing Outsourcing (KPO) hence, the forestry professional can become a consultant to the big organization like NGOs, State and central Project Management Units (PMUs), Central and State Pollution Control Board, Environmental Legal Advisor to the industrial sector and now a days one can also enroll as Charted Forester (CF) for providing technical assistant to the people willing to take up forestry on their private holdings. This system of being Charted Forester is very common in some advanced countries and recently launched in India as there is a demand for technical guidance of forestry to people in their private capacity.