Minister of State for Environment, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Monday informed Lok Sabha about the details of transfer of share of State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority Fund (State CAMPA fund) to various States and Union Territories (UTs).
CAMPA stands for Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority.
It is a fund created by the Indian government under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016 to compensate for the loss of forests due to various developmental activities such as mining, industrialization, construction of dams, etc.
The fund is managed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The CAMPA funds are collected through various sources such as:
- Payment for diversion of forestland for non-forest purposes
- Net Present Value (NPV) of the forestland diverted for non-forest purposes
- Interest accrued on the CAMPA funds
How are CAMPA funds Utilized?
The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF Act), 2016 and Rules, 2018 provide elaborate guidelines and activities for utilization of CAMPA Fund.
The CAMPA funds are utilized for the following purposes:
- Compensatory afforestation
- Forest conservation & Protection
- Improving quality of forests through assisted natural regeneration, enrichment of biodiversity, improvement of wildlife habitat, control of forest fire, forest protection and soil and water conservation measures.
- Wildlife protection and management
- Forest infrastructure development
- Capacity building of forest department personnel
The CAMPA funds are also used to support local communities living in and around forests through livelihood support, forest-based enterprises, and eco-tourism initiatives.
CAMPA also supports creation of nurseries for multiplication of quality planting material of locally suitable plant species.
Monitoring and evaluation of CAMPA activities
The monitoring and evaluation of CAMPA activities is provided in the CAF Act, 2016.
The monitoring of CAMPA activities in States/UTs are carried out through Internal and Third Party monitoring and e-Green watch web portal.
The State and Union territories are required to submit the Annual Plan of Operations (APO), prepared by State CAMPA in accordance with the provisions of CAF Act, 2016 & Rules.
CAMPA activities are implemented by engaging local communities in afforestation, nursery raising, soil-water conservation and forest protection activities.
The National Authority does not maintain any information related to job creation under various Projects and Schemes funded under National Fund, CAMPA.
The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016 provides for audit of the accounts of both National and States and UTs CAMPA Authorities by the Comptroller and Auditor- General of India (C&AG).
The Audit of States CAMPA is done by C&AG through respective Accountant General Office.
