Although part of the larger Forestry Function, Directorate: Forestry Support falls within the Operations Branch and reports to the Deputy Director General: Regional Co-ordination and Support.

The tasks of this Directorate are mainly that of supporting operations within the Clusters (Regions) and of acting as a liaison between the various directorates in P&R and the Clusters. It is also responsible for co-management of the remaining plantations with the relevant Clusters’ management.

The Directorate is divided into four sub-directorates of which 2 deal with management and transfers of the remaining plantations and two with the “new” functions. These two are the Sub-Directorate: Programme Management Support (PMS) and Risk Management Support (RMS).

Project Management Support, supports the roll-out and maintenance of forestry programmes such as the implementation of the use of Principles, Criteria, Indicators and Standards (PCIS) for sustainable forest management (SFM) and reporting on the state of the country’s forests. Other programmes, amongst others, are those of Forest Enterprise Development (FED), Arbor Week and Law Enforcement.

Risk Management Support, supports Clusters with aspects that might be threatening the achievement of the department’s vision. It endeavours to be proactive in identifying issues that may become obstacles and then to assist P&R in developing policies to address the relevant matters.