📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Benjamin Nash, US Forest Service
Education
Forest Training Institute launches three‑day geospatial training for frontline forest staff in Sikkim
✍️ Sikkimexpress
🗓 08 Sep 2026, 09:37 AM
👁 14
The Forest Training Institute (FTI) has begun a three‑day geospatial mapping program aimed at equipping frontline forest personnel with modern spatial analysis skills.
The Forest Training Institute (FTI) inaugurated a three‑day geospatial training programme targeting frontline forest staff across Sikkim. The initiative, announced by the institute, seeks to familiarize forest officers with contemporary mapping and spatial data tools that can enhance forest management and monitoring.
During the intensive sessions, participants will receive hands‑on instruction in satellite imagery interpretation, GIS software operation, and field data collection techniques. Practical exercises are designed to enable staff to generate accurate forest cover maps, track illegal activities, and support conservation planning.
The training aligns with broader government efforts to modernise forest surveillance and improve data‑driven decision‑making. By the end of the course, trainees are expected to apply geospatial insights in daily operations, thereby strengthening the state's capacity to protect its forest resources.
FTI plans to replicate the programme in other ecologically sensitive regions, contingent on the outcomes observed in Sikkim. The institute will also evaluate participant feedback to refine future modules.
During the intensive sessions, participants will receive hands‑on instruction in satellite imagery interpretation, GIS software operation, and field data collection techniques. Practical exercises are designed to enable staff to generate accurate forest cover maps, track illegal activities, and support conservation planning.
The training aligns with broader government efforts to modernise forest surveillance and improve data‑driven decision‑making. By the end of the course, trainees are expected to apply geospatial insights in daily operations, thereby strengthening the state's capacity to protect its forest resources.
FTI plans to replicate the programme in other ecologically sensitive regions, contingent on the outcomes observed in Sikkim. The institute will also evaluate participant feedback to refine future modules.