Consider the following statements:

1. As per law, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority exists at both National and State levels.
2. People’s participation is mandatory in the compensatory afforestation programmes carried out under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct, and statement 2 is incorrect

• The SC established the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management & Planning Authority in 2002 as the National Advisory Council for monitoring, technical assistance and evaluation of compensatory afforestation activities and administering the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF).
• CAMPA promotes afforestation and regeneration activities to compensate for forest land diverted to non-forest uses. According to the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, the project that wishes to divert the land must identify land elsewhere to afforest and pay the land value for the afforestation exercise.
• The centre passed the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act in 2016, and the rules were notified in 2018. The National CAF under the Public Account of India and the State CAF under the Public Account of each state were created.
• The CAF Act was enacted to manage the funds collected for compensatory afforestation, driven by the ad hoc CAMPA. 90% of the CAF money will be given to the states, while the Centre will retain 10%.
• The funds can be used for
  • Treatment of catchment areas,
  • Assisted natural generation,
  • Forest management,
  • Wildlife protection and management,
  • Relocation of villages from protected areas,
  • Managing human-wildlife conflicts,
  • Training and awareness generation,
  • Supply of wood-saving devices and allied activities.
• However, the Act doesn’t mandate people’s participation in its programs.
• Compensatory afforestation: Whenever Forest land is diverted for non-forest purposes such as mining or industry, the user agency pays for planting forests over an equal area of non-forest land, or when such land is unavailable, twice the area of degraded forest land.

Answer: (a) 1 only; Difficulty Level: Easy