Highlights:
- India lost 2.3 million hectares of forest cover since the year 2000, the equivalent of 6% of the country’s tree cover.
- The National Green Tribunal noted that this loss was on account of all-round development initiatives and the adoption of “Compensatory Afforestation” policies.
The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
- A legislation that governs diversion of forest land for purposes other than forestry.
- CA was incorporated in the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 1981, which have been amended several times.
- CA involves new afforestation carried out as a compensation for diverted forest land and demands that non forest land be transferred to the state forest department.
Criticism of CA
- CA seeks to harmonize development with conservation but has been criticized to work less effectively in terms of compensation of lost ecosystems and biodiversities.
- Agencies involved in CA construction are infrastructure building agencies, industrial enterprises, urban development agencies, and strategic organizations, such as oil and gas companies.
- Audit conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General in 2013 mentioned the difficulties faced in the implementation of CA.
Problems in CA Implementation
- Between 2006 and 2012, only 27% of nonforest land allocated for afforestation was transferred, and afforestation happened on only 7% of it.
- Financial misappropriations were glaring, as considerable funds and associated expenditure remained unaccounted for.
- The eGreen Watch system, supposed to be used for realtime monitoring of projects, was largely non-functional.
- Weak enforcement mechanisms enabled unauthorized mining and other encroachments.
Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act and its Rules
The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act was enacted in 2016 and its rules in 2018.
- Unsatisfactory status of Campa activities has been brought forth in the Annual Report 2023 24 of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change as an immense gap in compensatory afforestation achievements.
- Five suggestions have been put forth for improving the implementation of Campa: improvement of data transparency, land consolidation, capacity building, considering local ecological and climatic conditions, research and development advancement, and local community engagement in afforestation projects.
