CAMPA

CAMPA and forest diversion

• A road, mine, or power line may need forest land. The user agency first needs approval under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980. It was earlier called the Forest (Conservation) Act.
• Approval may require payments and other conditions. Payment does not itself permit forest clearing.
• The agency pays for planting on other land. It also pays for lost forest benefits and approved site plans.
• The Environment Ministry explains these payments as compensation for lost forest and ecosystem services.

Three common payments

• Compensatory afforestation (CA): money for trees and long-term care at an approved replacement site.
• Net present value (NPV): a payment for forest benefits lost when land use changes. These include habitat, soil protection, and water regulation. A money value cannot capture them all.
• Other levies: an approval may require a wildlife plan, catchment treatment, or extra planting.
• Each payment has its own purpose. It is not one free-spending account.

How the legal system grew

• Supreme Court directions built an earlier, temporary arrangement for holding these payments.
• Parliament passed the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act in 2016. It set up National and State funds and authorities.
• The Act and the 2018 rules took effect on 30 September 2018. See the National CAMPA Act and Rules page.

Follow the money

• The flow is: user agency, State and National funds, approved annual plan, field work, audit.
• The funds sit in the Public Accounts of India and the States. They are not ordinary ministry grants.
• 90% of the collected amount goes to the State fund. The other 10% goes to the National fund.
• States prepare an Annual Plan of Operation (APO). The national authority reviews it. An approval is a plan to spend, not proof of finished work.

What spending is allowed?

• CA money follows the planting and care plan linked to a forest-diversion approval.
• The 2018 rules also allow natural regeneration, fire control, soil work, and wildlife habitat work. Some forest roads, staff facilities, and monitoring are allowed with limits.
• At least 80% of NPV money is for core forest and wildlife work. At most 20% is for related support.
• These percentages apply to the NPV part, not every rupee. The National CAMPA FAQ lists restricted uses.

Local land and rights matter

• Planting needs suitable land, water, species, and years of care. A row of saplings is only a start.
• Forest users may hold rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. CAMPA payments do not remove those rights. See The Forest Rights Act, 2006.
• Local species often fit a site better than one fast-growing species.
• Good monitoring checks survival and forest quality. Counting planting pits alone misses both.

An Odisha audit shows the delivery gap

• In an Odisha audit published in 2024, the Comptroller and Auditor General checked older planting duties. See the CAG report.
• It found a 6,995.97-hectare shortfall against the due compensatory-afforestation target up to March 2020.
• The audit described land and work delays. This is an Odisha finding, not an all-India total.
• It shows why payments, approved plans, planted area, and surviving forest must be measured separately.

What can planting replace?

• A young plantation can give shade, absorb some carbon, and protect soil.
• An old forest has complex habitat, species, and local ties. These take much longer to form.
• Some losses may never be fully replaced at another site. Do not call hectares planted “forest restored” without evidence.
• Ask four questions: Where was land found? Which species grew? How many survived? Who uses the land?

Audit the outcome, not only the account

• A financial audit asks whether money was recorded and spent within rules.
• A field audit asks whether work happened at the right place and time.
• An ecological check asks whether trees survived and habitat improved. All three checks matter.

Digital plans and field checks in 2026

• At its July 2026 meeting, National CAMPA discussed digital Annual Plans of Operation for 2026-27. See the government release.
• It also reviewed geographic monitoring and the audit of its 2024-25 accounts.
• Digital plans can improve tracking. They do not prove that trees survived or habitats recovered.
• For the wider planting push, see India’s Afforestation and Plantation Campaigns.