National CAMPA Governing Body Approved ‘Aastha Van Sanrakshan Yojana’

The 7th Meeting of the Governing Body of the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (National CAMPA) was held on 10 July 2026 at CASFOS, Coimbatore, under the chairmanship of Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav.

• The meeting reviewed the overall performance of National CAMPA and considered several proposals to strengthen compensatory afforestation, forest conservation, landscape restoration, and wildlife protection across the country.
• The Governing Body reviewed the progress of Net Present Value (NPV) and Compensatory Afforestation (CA) activities undertaken by States and Union Territories, along with the status of CAMPA funds received, approved, and transferred during 2025–26.
• The meeting appreciated the operationalisation of the Digital Annual Plan of Operations (Digital APO) for the 2026–27 cycle, under which States and UTs are required to prepare and submit their Annual Plans of Operation (APOs) digitally.
• Progress on the Harit-SANKALP Portal (System for Accreditation, Nursery Knowledge for Afforestation Linkage Platform), developed in collaboration with FAO-India, was also reviewed to strengthen nursery accreditation and improve plantation planning.
• Under the Nagar Van Yojana, 652 Nagar Vans (Urban Forests) and Nagar Vatikas have been developed with financial assistance of ₹571.50 crore.
• The Governing Body also noted the release of ₹7.28 crore to the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) under the Green Credit Programme to promote plantation-based green cover expansion.

Key Decisions

• The Governing Body approved the Aastha Van Sanrakshan Yojana, a new scheme with an initial corpus of ₹3,000 crore for the period 2026–27 to 2030–31.
• The scheme aims to conserve and restore nearly 15,000 sacred groves (Aastha Vans) across the country, recognising their ecological, cultural, and biodiversity significance.
• It also approved a new landscape restoration scheme to combat land degradation, restore degraded ecosystems, and conserve biodiversity through support from the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund.

About the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016

• The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016 was enacted to ensure proper utilisation of funds collected for the diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes.
• The CAF Rules, 2018 were notified on 10 August 2018, and both the Act and Rules came into force on 30 September 2018.
• The Act provides for the establishment of two interest-bearing, non-lapsable funds:
  • National Compensatory Afforestation Fund (National Fund) under the Public Account of India.
  • State Compensatory Afforestation Funds (State Funds) under the Public Accounts of States and Union Territories.
• The National Fund is managed by the National CAMPA under the control of the Central Government, while the State Funds are managed by the respective State CAMPA Authorities under State Governments/UT Administrations.
• The Act also replaced the Ad hoc CAMPA with the statutory National CAMPA and corresponding State CAMPA Authorities.
• The objective of the CAF Act, 2016 is to compensate for the ecological loss caused by diversion of forest land through:
  • Compensatory afforestation
  • Restoration of degraded forests
  • Wildlife habitat improvement
  • Biodiversity conservation
  • Ecosystem restoration

About National CAMPA

• National CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
• It is responsible for managing and monitoring the utilisation of compensatory afforestation funds collected from agencies diverting forest land for non-forest purposes, ensuring ecological restoration and sustainable forest management across India.

Source: PIB

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