Loksabha passed Compensatory Afforestation Fund bill, 2016
Loksabha passed Compensatory Afforestation Fund bill, 2016 on May 3, 2016. Here highlights of the bill.
Highlights of the Bill
- The
Bill establishes the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the
Public Account of India, and a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund under
the Public Account of each state.
- These
Funds will receive payments for: (i) compensatory afforestation, (ii) net
present value of forest (NPV), and (iii) other project specific
payments. The National Fund will receive 10% of these funds, and the
State Funds will receive the remaining 90%.
- These
Funds will be primarily spent on afforestation to compensate for loss of
forest cover, regeneration of forest ecosystem, wildlife protection and
infrastructure development.
- The
Bill also establishes the National and State Compensatory Afforestation
Fund Management and Planning Authorities to manage the National and State
Funds.
Key Issues and Analysis
- The
Bill establishes the Funds for compensatory afforestation and forest
conservation. However, there are several factors (other than
administration of funds) which affect compensatory afforestation and
forest conservation. These factors are mentioned below.
- A
2013 CAG report noted that state forest departments lack the planning and
implementation capacity to carry out compensatory afforestation and forest
conservation. With the share of funds transferred to states increasing
from 10% to 90%, effective utilisation of these funds will depend on the
capacity of state forest departments.
- Procuring
land for compensatory afforestation is difficult as land is a limited
resource, and is required for multiple purposes, such as agriculture,
industry, etc. This is compounded by unclear land titles, and difficulties
in complying with procedures for land use.
- A
High Level Committee on Environment Laws observed that quality of forest
cover has declined between 1951 and 2014, with poor quality of
compensatory afforestation plantations being one of the reasons behind the
decline.
- The Bill delegates the determination of NPV (value of loss of forest ecosystem) to an expert committee constituted by the central government. As NPV constitutes about half of the total funds collected, its computation methodology would be important.
