The Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) is established under the Science and Technology Policy adopted by the Government of Kerala as an autonomous institution to undertake research in areas like forestry, biodiversity etc., that are vital to the development of the Kerala State. The Institute was registered as a society on 3rd July 1975 under the Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Act, 1955. The institution fulfills a number of economic, social and environmental objectives set by the Government. In the year 2002 KFRI amalgamated with the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) along with five other R&D Centres in Kerala. Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) is a registered society and an autonomous body under the Science, Technology & Environment Department, Government of Kerala.

KFRI is strategically located in the midst of a tropical forest at Peechi about 20km East of Thrissur, in Central Kerala, India. The main campus extends over an area of 28 ha., part of the picturesque reserve forest of the Peechi Forest Range. The Institute has two sub-Centres- one at Nilambur in North Kerala and the other at Velupadam, Palapilly in Thrissur District to conduct nursery and plantation trials and other specialised research.

A thematic Museum, devoted entirely to the unique species -Teak, which produces the world's most ideal timber that can be put to almost any conceivable use from handicrafts to building ships was established in May 1995 in the Campus of the Sub-Centre of KFRI by the Kerala Forest Research Institute in collaboration with the Kerala Forest Department. The Museum is ideally located in Nilambur where the plantation activities on this species were initiated about 160 years ago.