Campa act

CAMPA Act or Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority bill is a legislation that seeks to provide an appropriate institutional mechanism, both at the Centre and in each State and Union Territory, to ensure expeditious utilisation in efficient and transparent manner of amounts realised in lieu of forest land diverted for non-forest purpose which would mitigate impact of diversion of such forest land.

In 2002, the Supreme Court observed that funds collected for afforestation were under-utilised by the States. It ordered for centrally pooling of funds under Compensatory Afforestation Fund. The court had set up the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (National CAMPA) to manage the Fund.

In 2009, came State CAMPAs that receive 10 percent of funds from the parent body to use for afforestation and forest conservation. However, in 2013, a CAG report identified that the funds continued to be underutilised. The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill 2015 was introduced by the government in Lok Sabha on May 8, 2015 to regulate the funds that were collected.

The bill was passed by the Upper House on July 28, 2016. By principle, it seeks to establish the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of India, and a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of each state; payments into the funds include compensatory afforestation, NPV, reforestation and any project specific payments; the funds will be utilised for afforestation, regeneration of forest ecosystem, wild life protection and infrastructure development and the bill also seeks to establish National and State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authorities to manage the funds..