The Directorate of Forest Education, in its current form, functions under direct administrative control of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India to take care of all aspects of training of SFS officers and FROs. The Directorate also supplements the efforts of the State Government for the training of Frontline Forest Staff (Forest Guards, Foresters, Deputy Rangers). The Directorate of Forest Education was earlier a part of the erstwhile Forest Research Institute & Colleges, Dehradun and remained responsible for professional training / education of Forest Officers /personnel at all level in the country.

The post of DFE was created in 1953 under the FRI and Colleges to assist the President, FRI. Subsequent to reorganization of Forest Research Institute and Colleges and creation of Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) as an autonomous organization, under the Ministry of Environment and Forests in the year 1991, the Directorate of Forest Education was delinked from the Forest research Institute and Colleges. The Directorate ensures “Standard and Quality” of forestry training in the country and in its current form, functions under direct administrative control of the MoEF&CC, Government of India to take care of all aspects of training of SFS officers and FROs. Located in the scenic Forest Research Institute campus at Dehradun, the Directorate is headed by the Director who is a senior Forest Officer drawn on deputation basis.

Vide order No. 15-15/2018-RT dated 03.02.2022, integration / unification of all Forestry Training Academies in the country has been carried out, Subsequently DFE, 03 Central Academy for State Forest Services (CASFOS), Dehradun, Burnihat & Coimbatore and Central Academy for Forest Education (CAFE), Kurseong have been brought under the single command of Director, Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) as administrative head.

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.

• Central Academy for State Forest Service, Dehradun
• Central Academy for State Forest Service, Coimbatore
• Central Academy for State Forest Service, Burnihat
• Central Academy of Forest Education, Kurseong

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 State 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