Compensatory Afforestation: Highlights And Challenges

Compensatory afforestation is a crucial requirement imposed by the Central Government while granting permission for the de-reservation of forest land for non-forest purposes. It is imperative that a detailed scheme for compensatory afforestation is framed and submitted to the Central Government along with such proposals. The comprehensive scheme should encompass various details, such as the details of non-forest areas earmarked for compensatory afforestation, maps of areas where compensatory afforestation is to be conducted, annually phased forestry operations, details of species to be planted, and a suitability certificate from afforestation point of view along with the budget structure of various operations and the scheme should be site-specific to avoid any deviation of budget.

In 2001, the Supreme Court directed the MoEF in the case of T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India^[1] to formulate a scheme whereby the user agency shall be solely responsible for compensatory afforestation.

In 2002, the Supreme Court in the same case ordered that a Compensatory Afforestation Fund (“CAF”) be created in which all the contributions for the purpose of compensatory afforestation, additional compensatory afforestation, Net Present Value (NPV) of forest land, Catchment Area treatment fund had to be deposited.^[2] Following the orders of the Supreme Court, in 2004, the MoEF constituted the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (“CAMPA”) to overlook and manage the Compensatory Afforestation Fund. On 9.5.2002, the Hon’ble Supreme Court ordered for the setting up of Central Empowered Committee (“CEC”) in pursuance of Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for the assistance of the Court as well as to keep a check on the implementation of the Court’s orders. The CEC has been assigned the role to submit reports regarding the status of compensatory afforestation in India. Following the recommendations of the CEC, the Supreme Court had constituted an Ad-hoc CAMPA authority to collect funds till a statutory body was brought in place to perform the said functions.

For better regulatory oversight and institutional management of the fund, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016, which legalised the status of CAMPA at the national and state levels, came into force on 30 September 2018.

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016

Compensatory Afforestation under the Act means afforestation done in lieu of the diversion of forest land for non-forestry use under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.^[3]

Penal Compensatory Afforestation means afforestation work to be undertaken over and above the compensatory afforestation specified in the guidelines issued under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 in lieu of the extent of area over which non-forestry activities have been carried out without obtaining prior approval of the competent authority under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.^[4]

The user agencies which undertake works that require the diversion of forests for non-forest purposes pay 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. This money is submitted to the funds established by the Act at the Central and State levels.

A National Compensatory Afforestation Fund has been established by the Central Government under the public account of India.^[5] The National Fund shall be under the control of the Central Government. The monies collected by State Governments and Union Territory Administrations shall be transferred to the National Fund. The National Fund shall be credited with-

• “Grants-in-aid received, if any, by the National Authority;
• Any loan taken or any borrowings made by the National Authority;
• Any other sums received by the National Authority by way of benefaction, gift or donations.”

A State Compensatory Fund has been established by the State Government under public accounts of such state.^[6] The State Fund shall be under the control of the State Government. The State Fund shall be credited with the-

• “the unspent balance of all monies which has been transferred by ad hoc Authority to the State
• all monies transferable from the National Fund under clause (a) of section 5;
• all monies realised from user agencies by such State towards compensatory afforestation, additional compensatory afforestation, penal compensatory afforestation, net present value, catchment area treatment plan or any money for compliance of conditions stipulated by the Central Government while according approval under the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (69 of 1980); and
• the funds recoverable from user agencies by such State in cases where forest land diverted falls within the protected areas, that is, areas notified under sections 18, 26A or 35 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (53 of 1972) for undertaking activities relating to the protection of biodiversity and wildlife.”

A State Government may also credit to the State Fund constituted by it—

(i) “grants-in-aid received, if any, by the State Authority;

(ii) any loan taken or any borrowings made by the State Authority;

(iii) any other sums received by the State Authority by way of benefaction, gift or donations.”

The National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority is constituted by the Central Government.^[7] The National Authority is responsible for managing and utilizing the National Fund. Similarly, a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority is constituted by the Central Government at the State level.^[8] The State Authority has similar powers and functions under this Act. These authorities are responsible for the release of funds for compensatory afforestation activities.

The annual plan of operations are prepared by the executive committee of a State Authority. The annual plan of operations comprises of the activities to be undertaken for compensatory afforestation, additional compensatory afforestation, penal compensatory afforestation, and catchment area treatment plan that are to be done as per the conditions imposed under forest clearance granted by the Central Government under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

A monitoring group comprising of six experts in the field of environment, economics, wildlife, forest, remote sensing and geographical information system, and social sector and the Director General, Forest Survey of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India.^[9] The function of the monitoring group is to evolve an independent system for concurrent monitoring and evaluation of the works implemented in the States and Union Territories utilising the funds released by the National and State Authorities to ensure effective and proper utilisation of funds.^[10]

Diversion Of CAMPA Funds

The establishment of Compensatory Afforestation Fund serves the overarching objective of compensating for the loss incurred by forests due to their utilization for non-forest purposes. However, on numerous occasions, it has been observed that these funds have been misappropriately used.

Source: Response in Lok Sabha- Unstarred Question No. 5179

The above figure shows the amount of funds transferred to respective funds of the States and Union Territories for utilisation for compensatory afforestation programs. However, the figure below shows the amount of funds that were utilized for this purpose.

Source: Response in Lok Sabha- Unstarred Question No. 5179

On a comparison of the above two figures, it can be clearly pointed out there is a huge difference in the amount deposited in the State/UT funds for compensatory afforestation and the amount that is utilized for the same purpose. Deviation of the amount from the funds is done for using it for purposes other than compensatory afforestation.

Despite the establishment of a dedicated fund for Compensatory Afforestation, it has failed to achieve its intended goals. The funds are not being used for the designated purposes and land is left without any afforestation. For maximum utilization of the funds, a mechanism should be brought in place in consonance with the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, of 2016. The mechanism would help in regulating the correct appropriation of funds towards compensatory afforestation.

A yearly budget should be prepared for Compensatory Afforestation and a minimum amount should be fixed for every area that would be utilized every year for compensatory afforestation. Authorities should be established at municipal and panchayat levels whose sole function would be to utilize these funds for compensatory afforestation and make sure that the afforestation activities are conducted properly.

An independent audit should be conducted atleast every year to monitor the Fund’s transactions and look into the afforestation activities.

The author is an Advocate On Record in the Supreme Court. Views are personal.