- Why in news
- On 10 April 2026, National Authority CAMPA held a national workshop in New Delhi to speed up GIS-based digitisation of forest boundaries across States and UTs.
- What it is
- CAMPA is the framework that manages money collected from users of forest land diverted for non-forest purposes, to fund compensatory afforestation. The National Authority CAMPA sits in the Environment Ministry and oversees State CAMPAs. Digitising forest boundaries means mapping all forest land with geo-referenced GIS data, replacing old sketch maps.
- Why old records fail
- Boundaries were recorded on traverse sketches and non-geo-referenced maps. This caused misclassified forest, untraceable encroachment and overlapping Forest Rights Act claims.
- Funding and timeline
- Each State/UT must make a time-bound action plan in its Annual Plan of Operations for 2026-27, funded from NPV under Rule 5(3)(g) of the CAF Rules, 2018, over three years.
- Role of National Authority
- It will be the apex body for policy oversight, technical standards, a National Technical Partner, a central National GIS Repository, and quality monitoring.
Don’t confuse with NPV vs compensatory afforestation levy: Net Present Value is paid for the loss of forest ecosystem services on diversion. The compensatory afforestation charge pays for planting trees on other land. Both go into the CAMPA funds.
Environment: Prelims tests bodies, programmes and the law behind them; Mains asks why plans fall short.
Why it matters
- Geo-referenced maps help identify all forest land whatever its notification status, and make diversion and compensatory afforestation easier to monitor.
- Clear boundaries help settle Forest Rights Act claims and protect customary rights.
Problems
- More than fourteen years after the 2011 order, many States have made little progress.
- Joint verification with Revenue Departments and dispute resolution over overlapping records are slow.
Way forward
- Use a National Technical Partner and a central GIS repository for common standards.
- Follow Odisha's model SOPs, with public consultation under the Forest Rights Act.
Put in your answer
Lafarge Umiam Mining case, 2011: The Supreme Court ordered States/UTs to maintain a GIS-based database of geo-referenced forest land.
Odisha model: Odisha was praised as an early and comprehensive implementer with SOPs and notification protocols.
- 2020Mains GS1 · Q17Examine status of India's forest resources and impact on climate change.
- 2025Mains GS4 · Q8Ethical case for diverting ecologically sensitive forest land for housing the poor.
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: Lasting topic linking Lafarge Umiam judgment, CAMPA, Forest Rights Act; a workshop-based item, so a question is unlikely.
Source: PIB, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change., 10 Apr, 20:45 IST · Release 287740
Worth revising until Prelims 2027: most news questions come within two years of the event.