Ex-ante Evaluation
1. Name of the ProjectCountry: India
Project Title: Capacity Development for Forest Management and Personnel Training
Project
Loan Agreement: November 21, 2008
Loan Amount: 5,241 million Yen
Borrower: The President of India
2. Background and Necessity of the ProjectAt the start of the 20th Century, roughly 40% of India’s land was covered in forest, but
as 2005, India’s forest and tree cover ratio1 stood at 23.4%, much below the global
average of 30.3% (2005). Many people, including the poor, depend on the forest as asource of feed for animals, fuel, and income, and as a result of recent increases inpopulation, degradation of the forest is increasing. As a result, in addition to a loss offorest resources, the capacity of the forest’s soil to retain water is decreasing,adversely impacting availability of agricultural/drinking water, pressuring the daily livesof the poor whose livelihoods depend on the forest and in turn accelerating burden on
the forest, resulting in a vicious circle. Also, the percentage of open forest2 in India ishigh – 42.4% (2003) – and the forest is not able to perform its functions sufficiently.
Improving the quality of the forest (reducing the percentage of open forest) andincreasing the total forested area are two of the most important issues faced by theForestry Sector in India.
In its Eleventh Five Year Plan (April 2007 – March 2012) the Indian Government hasoutlined a goal of increasing India’s forest and tree cover ratio by 5%. Additionally inthis plan, in addition to regenerating degraded forest land, emphasis has been placedon promotion of Joint Forest Management (JFM) with participation from residents toachieve sustainable forest management, and support for persons dependent on theforest to find alternative sources of income. Further, to implement sustainable forest
management, the plan also targets the introduction of IT systems and people
development.
In the “Japan’s Country Assistance Program for India” prepared by the Japanese
Government in May 2006, “Poverty Reduction and Environment Improvement” hasbeen set down as a major goal, and the Plan clearly states that assistance should be1

Forest and tree cover ratio is the ratio of forest (land with a crown ratio (coverage ratio of tree
leaves on the ground in a specific block) above 10% greater than 1ha that can be surveyed bysatellite) and trees (land with a crown ratio above 10% less than 1ha that can't be surveyed bysatellite) within the total target area (i.e. the total area of India).
2
Forest with a crown ration of less than 40% is called open forest, and that greater than 40%
dense forest. The percentage of open forest is the ratio of open forest within the entire forest area.

provided to the Forest Sector from the perspective of preventing soil
degradation/erosion and improving resident living standards. Accordingly, JICA hasset down “Support for Environment / Climate Change Measures” as a major
assistance area, and will support measures to prevent soil degradation and soil water
retention ability and bio-diversity through restoration of degraded forest andimprovements in forest size and quality for the sake of preservation and sustainable
use of natural resources. This project complies with these goals.
Since the 90’s, JFM has been a key pillar of forest preservation plans in India, but
prior to 1990, State Forest Departments performed forest management that excluded
involvement from local residents under the goal of environmental preservation, andinsufficient consideration was given to sustainable improvement of local residents
standard of living. The role of forest officers3 in the State Forestry Departments haschanged from one of exclusive management to a position involving cooperation withlocal residents. Frontline staff have been asked to promote local residents proactive
participation in forest preservation efforts and transfer the necessary skills for forest
preservation, but this has not been reflected adequately in their training courses.
Further, the training facilities located in 63 locations throughout India do not have therequired facilities for full-scale training, mainly due to inadequate state budget
allocations. Accordingly, for capacity development of frontline staff such as learning
required knowledge and skills for forest preservation and popularization techniques
for JFM promotion, both training content and training facilities require improvement.
Therefore, there is a high level of necessity and relevance for JICA to support thisproject that aims to strengthen forest management structure based around JFM anddevelop personnel that can contribute to raising living standards for the poor as well
as regenerating forests.
3. Project Description(1) Project Objectives
This project will contribute to improvement of training environment for frontline staff
through the rehabilitation of State Forest Training Institutions and through capacity
development of frontline forestry staff putting emphasis on thereby strengthening
human resource development for sustainable forest management.
(2) Project Site / Target Area
Planned to target 10 states selected by the Indian Ministry of Environment andForests from the perspectives of natural / social environment, effectiveness of training
and popularization of JFM, etc.
3Officers of the central government’s Indian Forest Service (IFS) are in charge of central andstate forest administration. Furthermore, within each state, the State Forest Service is in chargeof state forest administration, staffed by Forest Range Officers, and Foresters and ForestGuards are in charge of forest management in the field. Foresters and Forest Guides are called“frontline Staff”.

(3) Project Outline
This project will improve the training capacity of frontline staff through the creationof a training improvement plan covering improvements in training content, hiring plansand facility repair and construction plan for state forest officer training organizations.
This plan will be based on training guidelines updated by state governments based ontraining guidelines for frontline staff issued by the Ministry of Environment andForests.
1) Support for development of a forest management training structure (developmentof training guidelines, etc.)
2) Repair and construction of forest officer training organization facilities
3) Training implementation
4) Management Unit for Project(4) Total Project Costs/Loan Amount
5,910 million Yen (Including 5,241 million Yen in Japanese ODA loans)(5) Project Implementation Schedule
Planned for September 2008 ~ December 2013 (Total 64 months). Project will beconsidered complete when forest management training structure setup support andsupport for project management unit have completed.
(6) Project Implementation Structure1) Borrower: The President of India
2) Executing Agency : Ministry of Environment and Forests
3) Operation / Maintenance: Same as 2) above. Operation and Maintenance ofState Training Institutions will be conducted by each state Forest Department.
(7) Environmental/social awareness / poverty reduction / social development
1) Environmental/social awarenessa) Category: Bb) Reasons for categorization: The project is not likely to have significant adverseimpact on the environment under Environmental Guidelines in terms of its
characteristics.
c) Environmental Permit: Preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) report for this project is not required under Indian law.
d) Anti-Pollution Measures: Consideration to noise pollution will be given during
repair and construction of state training institution facilities.
e) Natural Environment: Repair and construction of state training institution
facilities will not be performed in national parks and government protectedareas, and it is expected that adverse environmental impact will be kept to aminimum.
f) Social Environment: This project will be implemented on land owned by State
Forest Department, and will not require land purchase or resident relocation.
g) Other/Monitoring: As part of this project, the State Forest Department will

monitor noise during construction as required.
2) Promotion of Poverty Reduction: The model training syllabus for forest officers
that will be updated as part of this project includes learning on Joint Forest
Management for forest area residents and practical measurements for regional
development for the purpose of preventing excessive dependence on forest
resources. It is hoped that through activities by frontline staff to create income
opportunities and the creation of self-help groups, the living standards of poor
residents dependent on forest resources for their livelihood can be improved.
3) Promotion of Social Development (Gender, AIDS and other infectious diseasemeasures, participative development, disability awareness, etc.): The training to
be provided by this project will provide frontline staff with a chance to learn about
JFM and methods for regional development, and support forest area residents
in obtaining a sustainable source of income. Construction standards will includerequirements for the repair and construction of state training institution facilities
to pay attention to use by female forest officers (lodging, toilets, etc.) as their
number is increasing in recent years.
(8) Cooperation with Other Donors.
None(9) Other Important Issues
This project will contribute to forest preservation / climate change measures byimproving forest management capability.
4. Outcome Targets(1) Evaluation Indicators (Operation and Effect Indicator)
Indicator
Rate of utilization of training facilities (%)
Number of forest officers receiving training
during project period (master trainers, state
forest officer organization trainers and forestofficers) (persons)Target (2013)[At project completion]
77.5*1 *2

1,750*1

Training participation rate of forest female staffs
100*1(%)*1 This index will be confirmed after training improvement plans submitted by the state
governments have been approved by the central government review.
*2 This index will be assessed two years after project completion.
(2) Internal Rate of Return
This project is aimed at increasing the quality of training of forest officers in theState Forest Departments selected by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, andquantitative Internal Rates of Return cannot be calculated.
5. External Factors / Risk Control
Changes in safety conditions of the target states.
6. Lessons Learned from Findings of Similar Projects Undertaken in the Past
In past ex-post evaluations, suggestions have been made for improvements to theJFM scheme, and we have learnt that issues faced by JFM include the necessity for
regular follow-ups on forest area residents by state Forest Departments, training andan increase in capacity to provide training to forest area residents on reducingdependence on forest resources. We have mandated inclusion of training on forest
management techniques for resident involvement by the frontline staff of State ForestDepartments.
7. Future Evaluation Plan
(1) Indicators to be Used in Future Evaluations
1）Rate of utilization of training facilities (%)2）Number of forest officers receiving training during project period (persons)3）Training participation rate of forest field staffs(%)(2) Timing of Future Evaluations
2 years after project completion
End