Sonal Srivastava
timesofindia.com
The UGC has decided to introduce Forestry as a separate subject in the UGC NET exam from June 2026 onwards. The move will strengthen forestry education and research in India while supporting emerging national priorities related to climate governance, biodiversity conservation, ecological restoration, sustainable development, and community forestry.
Before the introduction of a dedicated Forestry subject in the UGC NET, students with an MSc in Forestry would opt for Environmental Sciences or Life Sciences because of the syllabus overlap. The inclusion of the subject is expected to help universities and HEIs recruit more qualified specialists and expand teaching and research capacity.
Forestry is already being taught in several agricultural universities and specialised forestry institutions across the country. Recognition of the discipline in the UGC NET will now provide students with clearer academic and career pathways.
It will also gradually help promote forestry education and allied disciplines such as social forestry and agroforestry. Specialised institutions and forestry colleges already exist in different parts of India, including those under the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE).
Forestry programmes are also offered at the UG level as BSc Forestry courses in many agricultural universities, says RC Agrawal, former deputy director general Agriculture Education, Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
Despite the growing importance of forestry education, experts note that the HEI infrastructure in this field remains unevenly distributed.
Singh says that while India has a reasonably strong foundation for forestry education and research in select premier institutions, substantial scaling up and modernisation are still needed to support advanced interdisciplinary research, innovation, and teaching across the country.
Faiyaz A Khudsar, senior scientist, Biodiversity Parks Programme, Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems, University of Delhi, says the future of forestry education lies in creating professionals capable of rebuilding India’s blue-green infrastructure, ecosystems that help cities and landscapes cope with climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.
When forests are shrinking and cities are turning into heat islands, forestry becomes extremely important. The sector requires faculty who can not only teach in classrooms but also ensure that students receive hands-on ecological training, without which curriculum transaction will be ineffective.
Successful collaboration between DDA and DU to set up seven biodiversity parks across Delhi is an example of how HEIs can contribute directly to environmental restoration.
Academics suggest that formal inclusion of the subject will elevate academic quality.
It will help establish clear academic benchmarks and improve quality of teaching and research across forestry-based institutions and universities, says SP Singh, director, Amity School of Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, Amity University.
Dedicated JRFs and academic opportunities will motivate young scholars to undertake research on issues of national importance. This will support India’s commitment towards climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, land restoration, and Sustainable Development Goals, he says.
DATE : 25/5/2026
POSTED BY : EDUCATION TIMES
