Implementing Agency:
Department For International Development (DFIDI)

Managing Institute:
Department For International Development (BDCOD)

Contractor:
Technical Co-operation Officer

Project Code: 149-500-074	Start Date: 01/12/1996	End Date: 31/03/1997
Commitment: £2,100,000	Status: Completed	Type of Funding: Bilateral - TC

Project Background:
The activities of the DFID Forestry Office were consistent with the objectives of the Government of India (GOI) in its eighth Five Year Plan. The DFID forestry programme in India is mainly concerned with conservation and management of forest resources with a substantial focus on poverty reduction and institutional strengthening. The projects managed by the OFO are strongly in support of the GOI's national forestry policy, which emphasises the conservation of natural forest resources through increased people's participation.

The DFID Forestry Office (OFO) was first established in 1992, with the agreement of the Government of India (GoI). The purpose of the OFO was to oversee DFID's interests with respect to the then-newly approved Western Ghats Forestry Project and to oversee design of the Himachal Pradesh Pilot Forestry Project. The role of the OFO subsequently evolved further to undertake management of all DFID's forestry sector interests, culminating in the approval of a new three-year Project Memorandum for the OFO in April 1996.

In September 1996, DFID approved funding for the Kamataka Watersheds Development Project (KAWAD), a major new RNR initiative. It is intended that DFID's field management of KAWAD should be undertaken by existing and additional staff within the OFO. This therefore paves the way for the OFO to take on a broader natural resources-based, rather than forestry-specific, role. In due course, the ONRO may be considered as a field management instrument for other new RNR projects funded by DFID.

Project Objectives:
To assist the Development Co-operation Office, New Delhi (DCOD), by contributing towards the achievement in India of DFID's departmental objectives in the forestry sector as set out in the India Country Strategy Paper. To facilitate the transformation of the DFID Forestry Office into a Natural Resources office. The DFID Forestry Office is staffed by four UK-based personnel and by locally engaged staff numbering 16.5, of whom two are professionals.

Intended Outputs:
To oversee the delivery of and accounting for DFID inputs to projects; to provide regular reports of progress against objectives and of financial expenditure and forecasts; and to support Indian Project Managers with the implementaton and management of projects.