Union Minister hands over first PRAMAAN certificates to AP

Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, today handed over the first PRAMAAN certificates under the Indian Forest and Wood Certification Scheme (IFWCS), in New Delhi.

The event was organised by the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, as the scheme’s operating agency. Senior officers of the MoEFCC along with senior officers of various States Forest Departments, representatives of certification bodies and industry attended the event.

PRAMAN certificates were presented to the Andhra Pradesh Forest Development Corporation (APFDC) for its plantations over an area of 33,000 hectares, and to Shri Govind Mohapatra, a farmer associated with Odisha Bamboo Development Agency (OBDA). The plantations underwent a rigorous field and management audit before certification. The certificates mark the culmination of the processes established since launch of IFWCS by the Ministry in December 2023, signifying its transition from a policy framework to field-level implementation across both forest plantations and tree-based farming. (UPDATED ON 29TH SEPT 2026)