Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority Funds

• IAS NEXT, Lucknow
• 08, Dec 2021

Reference News:-

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) has so far disbursed ₹48,606 crore to 32 States.

• Chhattisgarh and Odisha have had the maximum amount transferred to them, or close to ₹5,700 crore

each followed by Jharkhand and Maharashtra at around ₹3,000 crore.

What are CAMPA funds?

CAMPA funds are part of long-pending dues of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF), a ₹54,000-crore tranche collected for nearly a decade as environmental compensation from industry, which has razed forest land for its business plans.

About CAMPA:

CAF Act 2016, which came into being more than a decade since it was devised, established an independent authority — the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority — to execute the fund.

• However, it was not until last August that the rules governing the management of the fund were finalised.

What is Compensatory Afforestation?

Compensatory afforestation means that every time forest land is diverted for non-forest purposes such as mining or industry, the user agency pays for planting forests over an equal area of non-forest land, or when such land is not available, twice the area of degraded forest land.

Fund sharing:

As per the rules, 90% of the CAF money is to be given to the states while 10% is to be retained by the Centre.

• The funds can be used for treatment of catchment areas, assisted natural generation, forest management, wildlife protection and management, relocation of villages from protected areas, managing human-wildlife conflicts, training and awareness generation, supply of wood saving devices and allied activities.