The Directorate of Forest Education was established in the year 1945 and was responsible for professional and technical trainings and education in the country. Subsequent to re-organization of forestry research, education and training institutions in 1987, the erstwhile Indian Forest College got upgraded to Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education was created as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to organize, direct and manage research in forest sector at national level.

The Directorate of Forest Education is an independent organization under the direct control of MoEF&CC for the training of State Forest Service (SFS) officers and Forest Range Officers (FRO). The Directorate of Forest Education has been brought under the administrative control of Director, IGNFA w.e.f. 01.03.2022. The Directorate also supplements the efforts of the state governments for the training of Frontline Forest Staff including Deputy Rangers, Foresters and Forest Guards.

Rationalization / re-organization of administrative control of Forestry Training Academies of MoEF&CC under Director, IGNFA.

With a view to enhance capacity building, efficiency in performance and economy, MoEF&CC vide letter dt. 03.02.2022 conveyed approval of the proposal for integration / unification of administrative control of forestry training academies. As per this order, administrative control of forestry training academies (IGNFA, 03 CASFOS at Dehradun, Burnihat and Coimbatore was brought under Director, IGNFA. The administrative control of DFE over CASFOs to remain unaffected. Consequent to above order and as per directions of Director, IGNFA, actions have been taken to give effect to the integration order such as routine file approval process and combined reporting of IGNFA and DFE, rationalization of manpower of all academies, infrastructure sharing of IGNFA and CASFOs after integration, modification of process seeking approval of major works, integration / collaboration of e-Library facility at all academies. joint trainings of scientist and technical officers of Ministry, mutual facilitation of working plan and jungle survival modules of IFS Officers by CASFOs, Coimbatore, extension of IGNFA guidelines for engagement of consultants in CASFOs, revision of academic council for SFS training under proposed draft rules, regular review etc. All proposals for capital infrastructure improvement of DFE which are within the financial powers of Director, IGNFA are now approved at his level.

The Government of India has issued the Entrance and Training Rules (revised), 2004 for State Forest Service Officers and Forest Range Officers and Guidelines for Training of Foresters and Forest Guards. These guidelines provide the framework for Induction Training and supplements the efforts of various States for the training and capacity building of the Forest Frontline Staff (Deputy Rangers, Foresters, and Forest Guards) through the respective Forest Training Institutes. In order to meet the increasing demand of the State Forest Departments and Central forestry organization for trained Officers, three State Forest Service Colleges were established by the Central Government at Burhihat (Assam) in 1976, Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) in 1980 and Dehradun (Uttarakhand) in 1981 for imparting training to the State Forest Service Officers of two years duration which were renamed as following durning 6 August, 2009.

• Central Academy for State Forest Service, Dehradun
• Central Academy for State Forest Service, Coimbatore
• Central Academy for State Forest Service, Burnihat

Besides this Directorate also conducts Forest Range Officers induction trainings through Forestry Training Institute / Academy under the control of State Government viz.:

• Uttarakhand Forest Training Academy, Haldwani, Uttarakhand
• Telangana Forest Academy, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
• Himachal Pradesh Forest Academy, Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh
• Tamil Nadu Forest Academy, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
• Kundal Academy of Development, Administration and Management (Forest), Maharashtra
• Gujarat Forest Rangers College, Rajpipla, Gujarat
• Karnataka State Forest Academy, Dharwad, Karnataka
• Odhisa Forest Rangers College, Angul, Odisha
• Chandrapur Forest Academy of Administration, Development and Management, Maharashtra