What is compensatory afforestation? | Explained

📌 Summary:

• Trigger: the National CAMPA last week approved four projects to conserve river dolphins, snow leopards, Indian rhinoceroses and wild water buffaloes, plus wildlife and green-cover initiatives
• What it is: compensatory afforestation is the practice of replacing forest land diverted for infrastructure/non-forest projects, to maintain green cover on a "land by land" and "trees by trees" basis
• Legal/institutional framework: (1) It is a mandatory condition for approval to divert forest land under the Forest (Conservation) Act (FCA), 1980 — every diversion proposal needs a comprehensive afforestation scheme approved by the State/UT (2) CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) was set up under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016 to utilise the accumulated funds (3) Structure: a National CAMPA sets broad policy and technical oversight; each State/UT has its own CAMPA executing localised projects
• Caveat: compensatory afforestation cannot justify large-scale projects that alter a region's ecosystem — it enables sustainability alongside necessary development, not a licence to clear forests

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 — environment conservation, forest governance, EIA/forest clearance regime, and the sustainability-development trade-off

📝 Prelims Facts:

• CAMPA = Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority; statutory under the CAF Act, 2016
• Forest land diversion for non-forest use requires Central approval under the FCA, 1980
• Principle applied: "land by land" and "trees by trees" compensation
• National CAMPA gives policy/technical oversight; State CAMPAs execute projects

🔑 Key Term: Compensatory afforestation — afforestation carried out to compensate for forest land legally diverted to non-forest purposes, funded through the CAMPA mechanism