CAMPA Fund: A Step to Conserve Nature

Forests are a significant component that nurtures the life support system on Earth. Whether government, village, or private, forests subserve the entire community and represent a community resource that meets the needs of the millions of rural people, especially the tribals.

Article 48A of the Indian Constitution requires that the State endeavour protect and improve the environment and safeguard the forest and wildlife of the country. Under Article 51A, every citizen must protect and enhance the natural environment comprising forests, lakes, and rivers and have compassion for living creatures. Several laws and court judgments govern the use and protection of forest land. The law includes the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act of 2006, and the Indian Forests Act of 1927. The government of India also introduced different funds, out of which is CAMPA Fund.

What is a CAMPA Fund?

The Government of India passed the CAMPA Act to form for the lost forestland and ensure sustainability Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority. By ensuring that funds are released and used promptly, effectively, and openly through a clearly defined institutional process, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) Act aims to lessen the effects of diverting forest land for non-forest uses.

All states, union territories, and the Centre are subject to the CAMPA statute. The law establishes a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund in each State’s Public Account in expansion to a National Compensatory Afforestation Fund in the Public Account of India.

10% of these revenues will go to the National Fund, and the remaining 90% will go to the State Funds. According to the Act, a corporation that diverts forest land must offer substitute land for compensating afforestation. The corporation should pay to plant new trees on alternative land provided by the State for afforestation.

Features of CAMPA Fund

• Forest land must be distracted for many industrial and development operations, including the construction of dams, mining, and building businesses or highways.
• Any project proponent, whether public or private, must acquire forest clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests before converting land (MoEF).
• The forest department of the state government- must be used to submit this proposal. The ministry and authorities must also choose how much to pay for the forest land. It will be lost if authorization is given.
• The CAMPA will be governed by the Union Minister of Environment and Forests.

What is a State CAMPA?

The State CAMPA is the administration or instrumenting body in charge of accelerating activities for the conservation of natural forests, effective management and monitoring of wildlife, infrastructure growth in the sector, and other allied assignments in the State.

How Does the CAMPA Funding Operate?

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF), a 54,000 crore tranche amassed over a decade as environmental compensation from industry, incorporates CAMPA funds in its backlog of unpaid obligations. Industry removed forest areas for its business objectives.

Critical Points and Analysis

The Bill affirms the funds for compensatory afforestation and forest conservation. However, several aspects (other than how funds) affect compensatory afforestation and forest conservation.

These aspects are:

• According to a 2013 CAG assessment of forest departments, states lack the capacity for planning and implementing compensatory afforestation and forest conservation.
• Effective use of these monies will depend on the competence of state forest departments as the percentage of funds given to states rises from 10% to 90%.
• The land is an inadequate resource and is required for many other things, including agriculture, industry, and other uses. Finding land for compensatory afforestation can be challenging.
• Uncertain land titles and challenges with the following processes make this worse.

A High-Level Committee on Environment Laws noted that between 1951 and 2014, the quality of forest cover decreased, with poor quality compensatory afforestation plantations being one of the causes.

The Bill assigns the task of calculating the NPV (value of a forest ecosystem’s loss) to an expert committee that the central government has assembled. Since NPV accounts for nearly half of the aggregate money raised, understanding how it was computed is crucial.

Compensatory Afforestation

When forest land is operated for purposes other than forestry, such as mining or industry, compensatory afforestation is the practice of planting trees over an equal area of non-forest land or, in the lack of such land, twice the area of degraded forest land.

Objectives

• To promote development and afforestation initiatives to make up for forest land that will be exploited for non-forest uses.
• Establishing state-wide regulations that are successful.
• To make it simpler, offer any assistance in science, technology, and other requirements that may be required by the body in charge of the State CAMPA.
• Based on strategic planning, formulate suggestions for the State CAMPA authorities’ next course of action.
• To resolve conflicts that develop between states or between states and the centre.

Compensatory Afforestation Fund

• The Centre enacted the CAF Act in 2016, and the associated rules were declared in 2018.
• Before the implementation of the CAF Act, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) was in charge of managing the funds received for compensatory afforestation.
• Payments for Compensatory afforestation,
• The NPV and additional project-specific payments will be given to these Funds.
• The Bill also creates the National and State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authorities to manage the National and State Funds.
• The rules stipulate that the states should receive 90% of the CAF monies, and the Center should keep 10%.
• The funds can be used for several initiatives, such as clearing catchment areas, promoting natural energy production, managing forests and wildlife, relocating villages from protected areas, resolving conflicts between people and wildlife, developing awareness and training initiatives, offering wood-saving equipment, and other related tasks.

The Procedure of Compensatory Afforestation

The method of compensatory afforestation comprises the following steps:

• Identify the non-forest land or degraded forest eligible for compensatory afforestation
• Arrangement of agencies liable for afforestation
• Determine work schedules in detail for compensatory afforestation
• Allot funds as per the cost estimates and ensure proper utilization of funds
• Formulate an organized monitoring and assessment system

Issues With CAMPA Fund

• The Supreme Court observed in 2002 that the states’ collected funds for afforestation were underused and ordered funds to be pooled centrally under an ad hoc Compensatory Afforestation Fund.
• According to the law, the land chosen for afforestation should preferably be adjacent to the diverted forest, making it easier for forest officials to manage. However, if no suitable non-forest land is functional, polluted forests can be assigned for afforestation.
• Discovering non-forest land for afforestation to compensate for forest loss is difficult in several states, including Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Jharkhand, where mining intensity is high.
• Several state governments need to be adequately utilizing the CAMPA fund. An aggregate of Rs 86 lakh from CAMPA funds planned for afforestation was allegedly expended on litigation in Punjab.
• The loss of natural species is compensated for by planting non-native species under the guise of an artificial plantation. It poses a hazard to the living ecosystem.

Conclusion

A close look at the state government’s actions using CAMPA funding is required. The central government should embrace the idea of outcome budgeting for allocating funds to the state government, in which allocation will be done on an instalment by checking the outcome of previous funds.

To make up for the loss of forest land converted to non-forest uses. The Planning and Management Authority for Compensatory Afforestation Funds (CAMPA) was established to promote afforestation and regeneration operations. CAMPA fund is responsible for managing the funding for compensatory afforestation and any additional money.