CAMPA — The Forest Diversion Fund That Odisha Leads But Rarely Uses Well

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority was established by the Supreme Court in 2002 through the landmark T.N. Godavarman case — which had been monitoring forest governance in India since 1995. The principle is straightforward: when forest land is diverted for non-forest purposes (mining, roads, dams, industrial plants), the company or agency responsible must pay into a fund, which is then used to create new forest elsewhere to "compensate" for what was lost.

The legal architecture: under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, any diversion of forest land for non-forest use requires the user agency to provide alternative non-forest land for afforestation (equal area in non-hilly terrain; double the area for degraded forest) and bear all costs. Funds collected for this purpose are managed by CAMPA.

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016 formalised this arrangement — creating statutory National and State CAMPAs, specifying permissible activities for the funds, and mandating annual planning through Annual Plans of Operations (APOs).

Odisha's unique position: With mineral-rich forests in Koraput, Rayagada, Sundargarh, Keonjhar, and Jharsuguda being diverted for bauxite, iron ore, coal, and aluminium projects, Odisha has accumulated more CAMPA funds than any other Indian state. This creates both an opportunity (the largest dedicated forest management fund in Odisha) and a challenge (managing and spending it well in the face of governance shortfalls).

The CAF Act, 2016 and Rules, 2018 specify permissible activities strictly. CAMPA funds may only be used for:

1. Compensatory Afforestation — planting trees on the alternative land provided by the user agency
2. Additional Compensatory Afforestation — supplementary planting to make up for deficiencies
3. Penal Compensatory Afforestation — afforestation ordered as a penalty for violations
4. Catchment Area Treatment — watershed management and soil and water conservation in the catchment of the diverted forest
5. Natural Regeneration — assisted natural regeneration of degraded forests (allowing natural growth rather than planting)
6. Enrichment Plantation — improving the biodiversity of plantations by adding diverse native species
7. Forest and Wildlife Management — protection of forests, wildlife habitat improvement, eco-sensitive zone management
8. Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation — infrastructure and community support for reducing conflict
9. Village Relocation from Protected Areas — compensation and support for families relocated from wildlife sanctuaries and national parks
10. Capacity Building — training of forest department staff and communities
11. Infrastructure for Forest Protection — roads, watch towers, patrol posts within forest areas

What CAMPA funds CANNOT be used for: Any state government scheme, programme, or budget expenditure outside this list. The Rs. 248 crore diversion of Odisha CAMPA funds to Ama Jangal Yojana (documented in the CAG audit) was a direct violation of Rule 5 of the CAF Rules, 2018.

The CAF Act and MoEFCC guidelines explicitly mention engaging local communities in CAMPA activities — afforestation, nursery raising, soil-water conservation, and forest protection. This is not a welfare provision; it is a practical requirement because communities are the most effective forest protection agents.

For NGOs, the critical issue is gram sabha consent. CAMPA plantations on land where FRA claims are pending — or on community land without gram sabha consent — have been consistently documented as violations of both the Forest Rights Act and the PESA Act. The IWGIA report (2022) documented specific Odisha cases: the plantation in Saked village (Kalahandi) violating individual FRA rights of 27 tribal families without gram sabha consent; the Pidikia village (Kandhamal) plantation that denied community access to their forest and NTFP livelihoods.

The CAG audit (September 2024) tabled in the Odisha Assembly documented:

• Odisha State CAMPA did not release the entire amount received from National CAMPA to field units
• Field units could not fully utilise grants received
• 47,84,180 seedlings (costing Rs. 8.13 crore) procured for CAMPA were diverted to other plantation schemes (MGNREGS, OFSDP, Green Mahanadi Mission)
• No information system in place for identifying suitable non-forest land for compensatory afforestation

CAMPA's impact on tribal communities in Odisha is a two-sided story:

The employment opportunity: CAMPA activities — nursery work, planting, soil bund construction, forest fire prevention patrols — generate wage employment in forest-adjacent tribal areas. The National CAMPA estimates over 10.50 lakh hectares of compensatory afforestation undertaken nationally, with significant tribal and women community employment. In areas where VB-G RAM G employment is limited, CAMPA-funded forest work can be a meaningful income source.

The rights violation risk: CAMPA plantations on tribal land — particularly land with pending FRA claims — dispossess communities of agricultural land without their consent and without legal authority. The monoculture plantations that CAMPA typically funds (teak, eucalyptus, acacia) replace biodiverse natural forest with commercially-oriented single-species stands that provide little NTFP value for communities.

The convergence opportunity: When CAMPA activities are designed with gram sabha participation, on land not in dispute, with native multi-species plantations — they can create community forest resources that complement FRA CFR rights. A gram sabha with a CFR title that also manages a CAMPA-funded enrichment plantation on its CFR area has both legal rights and fund-supported restoration capacity.