Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA)

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Centre releases Rs.47,436 crores for afforestation to various states from CAMPA funds

What is CAMPA?

Supreme Court of India ordered for establishment of Compensatory Afforestation Fund and Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) in 2001.In 2006, ad-hoc CAMPA was established for the management of Compensatory afforestation fund.

The Bill envisage

  • Establishing the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund and a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund for each of the states.
  • receiving funds (from user agency) in national level and state level Funds for compensatory afforestation, the net present value of the forest and other project-specific payments.
  • Spending the monies thus collected primarily for afforestation to compensate for the loss of forest cover, regeneration of forest ecosystem, wildlife protection and infrastructure development.
  • Establishing the national and state-level fund management authorities to manage respective Funds.

Also, Read   Presedient’s Rule

Important features:

  • The law establishes the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of India and a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of each state.
  • These Funds will receive payments for:(i) compensatory afforestation, (ii) the net present value of forest (NPV), and (iii) other project specific payments. 
  • The National Fund will receive 10% of these funds, and the State Funds will receive the remaining 90%.
  • According to the Act’s provision, a company diverting forest land must provide alternative land to take up compensatory afforestation.
  • For afforestation, the company should pay to plant new trees in the alternative land provided to the state.

 

Key Issues and Analysis:

  • In 2002, the Supreme Court had observed that collected funds for afforestation were under-utilised by the states and it ordered for centrally pooling of funds under ad hoc Compensatory Afforestation Fund.
  • The law says that land selected for afforestation should preferably be contiguous to the forest being diverted so that it is easier for forest officials to manage it. But if no suitable non-forest land is found, degraded forests can be chosen for afforestation. In several states like Chattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand where the intensity of mining is very high, to find the non-forest land for afforestation to compensate the loss of forest is a big task.
  • The utilisation of CAMPA fund: Several state governments are not utilising it properly. An amount of Rs.86 lakh from CAMPA funds meant for afforestation was reportedly spent on litigation work in Punjab.
  • Moreover, at several places, the loss of natural species is compensated with plantation of non-native species in the name of the artificial plantation. It serves as a threat to even the existing ecosystem.  
  • A 2013 CAG report noted that state forest departments lack the planning and implementation capacity to carry out compensatory afforestation and forest conservation. With the share of funds transferred to states increasing from 10% to 90%, effective utilisation of these funds will depend on the capacity of state forest departments.
  • Procuring land for compensatory afforestation is difficult as land is a limited resource, and is required for multiple purposes, such as agriculture, industry, etc. This is compounded by unclear land titles, and difficulties in complying with procedures for land use.
  • A High-Level Committee on Environment Laws observed that quality of forest cover has declined between 1951 and 2014, with poor quality of compensatory afforestation plantations being one of the reasons behind the decline.
  • The Bill delegates the determination of NPV (value of loss of forest ecosystem) to an expert committee constituted by the central government. As NPV constitutes about half of the total funds collected, its computation methodology would be important.

Way ahead

    1. The proposed objective of the Act must be fulfilled by utilising the CAMPA funds only for the purpose it is meant for. It should efficiently be used only for afforestation and wildlife conservation activities.
    2. A closer look at the state government activities using CAMPA funding is needed. The central government should adopt the concept of outcome budgeting for allocation of funds to the state government in which funding will be done on an instalment basis by checking the outcome of previous funds.
    3.  State governments should restore the existing forests rather than creating new ones.

Also, Read  Environmental Impact Assessment 

 

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