Tamil Nadu Forest Department

Tamil Nadu Forest Department

தமிழ்நாடு அரசு வனத்துறை
Agency overview
Formed	1856 (168 years ago) (1856)
Jurisdiction	Tamil Nadu
Headquarters	velachery, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Employees	9,188
Agency executive	Dr Sudhanshu Gupta, IFS, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests
Parent agency	Government of Tamil Nadu
Website	https://www.forests.tn.gov.in/

The Tamil Nadu Forest Department, formerly the Madras Forest Department, is a government department responsible for managing all the protected areas and forests plus environmental and wildlife related issues of Tamil Nadu state in South India. The objective of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department is to conserve biodiversity and eco-systems of forests and wilderness areas to ensure water security and food security of the state.

The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Head of Forest Force (HoFF) is the head of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department. The Chief Wildlife Warden, five Additional Principal Chief Conservators of Forests and eight Chief Conservator of Forests function under the PCCF in the head office at Panagal Maaligai (pictured), Saidapet, Chennai. All the Chief Conservators of Forests are assisted by the Conservators of Forests and Deputy Conservator of Forests who have regional and specialised responsibilities.^[1]

All officials of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, down to the level of Assistant Conservator of Forests, are graduates of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration and the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy and are members of the Indian Forest Service, entitled to use the formal suffix IFS after their name. There are total of 9,188 employees of the department.^[2]