Working Plan

• Working Plan

Working Plan is a tool for scientific management of forests, evaluating the status of forest resources, assessing the impact of past management practices and working out suitable management interventions for forests for next ten years. The practice of systematic management planning of the forests in India was established during the colonial period, through a written statement of prescriptions titled as "Working or Management Plan (WP)" for a fixed period.

The National Forest Policy clearly states "No forest should be permitted to be worked without an approved Working Plan by the competent authority". Therefore, all forests in the country are to be sustainably managed as per the prescription of the working plan / scheme. To sustainably manage, conserve and utilize the forest resources and to bring uniformity in forest management planning across the country, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India adopted a uniform code, the National Working Plan Code in 2014, prescribing detailed professional scientific approach and contents for the guidance of the field officers.

The National Working Plan Code, 2014:

• As there has been a paradigm shift in the approach to environmental stability, biodiversity monitoring and management, restoration of ecological balance of the disturbed areas, protective functions of the resources and socio-economic benefits based on non-timber forest products (NTFPs), the revised National Working Plan Code 2014 has been formulated and enforced from 01.04.2014, to address the aspects related to climate change, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and carbo stock assessment, use of geospatial techniques, soil and water management, revitalization of rural economy on forest fringe, sustainable management of forests and peoples' participation, etc.
• Systematic grid-based forest inventory provided in the Code takes care of valuable baseline information for change matrix monitoring and analysis and better scientific and sustainable management of country's forests.
• Current approach of preparation of Working Plan involves two stage preparation process. In the first stage, a Preliminary Working Plan Report (PWPR) is to be prepared assessing the impact of past Working Plan, quantum of record up-dation and prognosis for future system of management. Upon approval of PWPR by the State Level Consultative Committee (SCC), the Draft Working Plan preparation is taken up. The Draft Working Plan report is also placed before the SCC for approval. On its approval Final Working Plan will be prepared as per the recommendations made by the SCC and will be processed to the GOI for its approval. On getting approval from the Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate change, it will be communicated to the concerned Circe Head and Division Head for its implementation.

Status of Working Plans in the State of Andhra Pradesh as on 01-06-2023

• There are (23) Divisions in the state of Andhra Pradesh before Re organisation and restructuring of Districts.
• Out of (23), (22) Divisions are covered under working plan except WLM Division, Tirupati which is being managed by the separate Wild life management plan.
• The (22) Working Plans of all the Divisions were approved before the restructuring of Divisions.
The current status and links to download the existing working plans in A.P. Forest Department are found below

S.No.	Name of the Circle	Name of the Division	Period of the existing Working Plan	Status	Existing WP Download
1	Rajahmundry	Chintur	2022-23 to 2031 - 32	Approved
		Eluru	2022-23 to 2031 - 32	Approved
		Kakinada	2022-23 to 2031 - 32	Approved
		Krishna	2022-23 to 2031 - 32	Approved
2	Visakhapatnam	Visakhapatnam	2022-23 to 2031 - 32	Approved
		Paderu	2022-23 to 2031 - 32	Approved
		Vizianagaram	2023-24 to 2032 - 33	Approved
		Narsipatnam	2023-24 to 2032 - 33	Approved
		Srikakulam	2023-24 to 2032 - 33	Approved
3	Kurnool	Kurnool	2023-24 to 2032 - 33	Approved
		Kadapa	2023-24 to 2032 - 33	Approved
		Proddutur WL	2023-24 to 2032 - 33	Approved
		Nandyal WL	2022-23 to 2031 - 32	Approved
4	Guntur	Giddalur	2023-24 to 2032 - 33	Approved
		Nellore	2023-24 to 2032 - 33	Approved
		Guntur	2022-23 to 2031 - 32	Approved
5	FDPT Srisailam	Markapur WLM	2023-24 to 2032 - 33	Approved
		Atmakur WLM	2022-23 to 2031 - 32	Approved
6	Anantapuram	Anantapuram	2022-23 to 2031 - 32	Approved
		Chittoor West	2022-23 to 2031 - 32	Approved
7	WLM Tirupati	Rajampet WLM	2022-23 to 2031 - 32	Approved
		Chittoor East WLM	2022-23 to 2031 - 32	Approved

The National Working Plan Code,2023 w.e.f. 1st July 2023

• The Ministry of Enviroment ,Forest and Climate Change (SU) Division has released the National Working Plan Code - 2023 on 17 th June 2023
• In APFD,all the Working Plans are approved before release of the new code.