India's CAMPA framework attempts to reconcile developmental imperatives with ecological obligations by mandating compensatory afforestation whenever forest land is diverted, creating a structured fund for ecological restoration.
The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016 operationalised a Supreme Court-directed mechanism into a legislative framework. It established a National Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of India and corresponding State funds, ensuring that monies collected from project proponents are legally ring-fenced for afforestation and allied activities.
The Act mandates afforestation over equivalent non-forest land or, where such land is unavailable, degraded forest land at twice the area of diverted forest. This graduated obligation attempts to offset net forest loss, though critics note that planted monocultures rarely replicate the ecological complexity of natural forests.
Beyond plantation activities, CAMPA funds are explicitly permitted for wildlife protection, forest protection, forest-related infrastructure, and catchment area treatment. This broader mandate acknowledges that ecological restoration cannot be reduced to tree-planting alone.
State CAMPA authorities manage roughly 90% of collected funds, creating accountability challenges. Utilisation rates have historically been low due to land availability constraints, weak monitoring mechanisms, and capacity deficits in state forest departments.
CAMPA represents a necessary but insufficient instrument for forest governance. Its effectiveness depends on ensuring ecological equivalence in compensatory plantations, timely fund utilisation, and robust third-party monitoring to prevent compensatory afforestation from becoming a procedural formality.
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