PANAJI
In a major setback to the Goa Forest Department, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) has approved only 40 per cent of the requested funds for a State’s Annual Plan of Operation (APO) for the financial year 2025-26.
The Executive Council of CAMPA has approved Rs 13.74 crore to the State as against a proposed outlay of Rs 33.98 crore, while citing that the State has around Rs 406 crore in its CAMPA kitty.
Interestingly, last year too, the national body had approved Rs 18.90 crore, as against the State’s request for Rs 29.59 crore. Before that, in 2023-24, the State got Rs 31.28 cr from CAMPA while its proposal was worth Rs 39.40 crore.
In its 2025-26 proposal, the Executive Council has approved Rs 2.26 crore towards compensatory afforestation (CA) in an area of 130 ha and another Rs 5.29 crore towards maintenance of old compensatory plantation, spread across an area of 1,432 ha. The body also approved Rs 1.39 crore for raising around 6.95 lakh seedlings for CA plantation.
The State has got Rs 1.04 crore for undertaking Assisted Natural Regeneration Plantation (ANRP) in an area of 145 ha and Rs 1.18 crore towards maintenance of one to three year old ANRP.
The executive council has deferred proposals worth Rs 7 crore pertaining to protection of plantations and forests and Rs 3.19 crore proposal for improvement of wildlife habitat.
The CAMPA body has also deferred its decision on soil and moisture conservation works, management of biological diversity and biological resources, independent evaluation of CAs and also third party monitoring.
As per the APO, the Forest Department will take up 486.98 ha of CA over a period of three years. Goa has achieved over 97 per cent of CA on non-forest and degraded forest areas against the forest areas diverted for various developmental works.
According to the plan, since 1980 till January 31, 2025, the State has managed to take up a total of 3471.92 ha of CA and penal CA towards diversion of around 3566.38 ha of forest land under Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
