The meeting of the High Powered Steering Committee under the NIRANTAR Platform (Vertical III – Capacity Development Support) was held under the Chairmanship of the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, at Bhopal.
NIRANTAR Platform
The NIRANTAR Platform (National Institute for Research & Application of Natural Resources to Transform, Adapt and Build Resilience) is a collaborative coordination mechanism established by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
It is designed to integrate the scientific resources and expertise of various autonomous and subordinate institutions under the Ministry without creating new administrative structures or increasing manpower.
Vertical III: Capacity Development Support is one of the four thematic pillars of this platform, focusing specifically on human resource building and institutional synergy in the environmental sector.
Key Features of Vertical III
- Lead Institution: The Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, serves as the designated lead institute for this vertical.
- Primary Mandate: To conduct research and education aimed at capacity building in forest management and forest products, supporting environmental conservation and sustainable natural resource management.
- Core Focus Areas:
- Sustainable resource management and forest certification.
- Nature-based solutions and ecosystem services.
- Climate change mitigation and scientist development programmes.
- Operational Strategy:
- Scientist Development: Implementing specialized modules for scientist growth and professional capacity building.
- Joint Training: Developing composite, multi-institutional training plans and shared modules to avoid duplication of effort.
- Knowledge Exchange: Promoting the flow of research and expertise across institutions to strengthen the science-policy interface.
Participating Institutions
Under Vertical III, key institutions work collaboratively to provide support, including:
- Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal (Lead).
- Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST).