News

Critical evaluation of compensatory afforestation policies - IAS Academy in Coimbatore

Context

• The release of the Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

About the report

• The Synthesis Report of the IPCC has said that safeguarding and conserving the existing ecosystems in the first place will play a better role in mitigating the impact of the climate crisis rather than efforts to restore ecosystems that have already been degraded.
• These findings of the report by the IPCC have shed focus on CAMPA Law, which has been a controversial policy in India.
• CAMPA allows for the cutting down of forests in one part of the country which can be replaced or compensated with afforestation elsewhere.

Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA)

• Based on an order of the Supreme Court, the Environment Ministry established the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).
• CAMPA Law aims to mitigate the impact of the diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes by making sure that proper afforestation and regeneration activities are undertaken to compensate for the lost forest land.
• CAMPA was established for the purpose of managing the money collected towards compensatory afforestation (CA) and any other money recovered by the agencies for utilizing forest land for non-forest purposes under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
• As per the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, for projects to divert the forest land, land elsewhere must be identified to afforest, and money has to be paid for the land value and the afforestation exercise.
• Further, such land will be stewarded by the forest department thereafter.

Concerns associated with CAMPA law

• The CAMPA has been criticised for allowing the destruction of natural ecosystems in return for afforestation in some other or faraway places.
• For instance, setting up single-species plantations in Haryana does not really compensate for the deforestation of a natural sal forest in a Central Indian forest in terms of biodiversity, local livelihoods, and hydrological services.
• Experts and researchers have also shown that natural ecosystems sequester more carbon.
• Activists have also claimed that climate action such as various means to mitigate climate change, renewable energy farms, etc., should not come at the cost of natural ecosystems.
• Further, it is seen that the money paid just sits in a fund overseen by the CAMPA.
• As of 2019, the fund had close to ₹47,000 crores.
• The IPCC report has pointed out that “reducing conversion of natural ecosystems” is less expensive than “ecosystem restoration, afforestation and restoration.”

Other key findings of the IPCC Synthesis report

• According to the report the only option with more mitigating potential than “reducing conversion of natural ecosystems” was solar power and the third-highest was wind power.
• However, solar projects in India have also been criticised as local people believe that such projects limit land use and increase local water consumption.
• Also, studies have found that wind farms in the Western Ghats had impacted the abundance and activity of predatory birds, which led to an increase in the density of lizards.