Centre releases Rs. 47,436 crores for afforestation to various states

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In a major boost towards promoting afforestation and achieving green objectives of the country, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar, on August 29 handed over Rs.47,436 crores of CAMPA funds to various states, in presence of Minister of State, MoEF&CC, Shri Babul Supriyo. In a meeting of State Forest Ministers and Authorities held at New Delhi, the Environment Minister stated “The State budget for forests shall remain unaffected and the fund being transferred would be in addition to State Budget and it is expected that all States will utilize this fund towards forestry activities to achieve the objectives of the Nationally-Determined Contributions (NDCs) of increasing its forest & tree cover, which will create an additional carbon sink equivalent to 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide by the year 2030”. The Environment Minister further emphasized that the CAMPA funds cannot be used for payment of salary, travelling allowances,medicalexpenses, etc.

Underlining the efforts of the Government towards preserving and improving the forest wealth and ecological security of the country, Shri Javadekar said “Important activities on which the fund will be utilised will be for the Compensatory Afforestation, Catchment Area Treatment, Wildlife Management, Assisted Natural Regeneration, Forest Fire Prevention and Control Operations, Soil and Moisture Conservation Works in the forest, Improvement of Wildlife Habitat, Management of Biological Diversity and Biological Resources, Research in Forestry and Monitoring of CAMPA works etc”.