Newmai News Network
Imphal | August 29
The Manipur Government received Rs 309 crore on August 29 as Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) fund from the Centre to undertake compensatory afforestation efforts and other activities to preserve the environment.
Manipur Forest and Environment minister, Thounaojam Shyamkumar received the cheque amount from Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar at a conference held for State Forest Ministers at the Paryavaran Bhawan, Jorbagh Road, Aliganj, New Delhi.
Minister Shyamkumar said that it was a major boost for the environmental conservation and protection activities in the State to combat the issue of climate change.
Union Minister Javadekar disbursed the CAMPA funds to the 27 states of Manipur, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab, Assam, Bihar, Sikkim, Goa, West Bengal, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, according to an official press statement from the Manipur government.
The fund will be utilized for compensatory afforestation, wildlife management, forest fire prevention, soil and moisture conservation works in forests, voluntary relocation of villages from protected areas, management of biological resources and biodiversity, research in forestry and monitoring of CAMPA works and activities provided in the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Rules, 2018.
The judicious utilization of CAMPA funds by the states and UTs for strengthening of forests will not only help to achieve the goals enshrined in the National Forest Policy but would also improve the quality, productivity, sustainability of forests.
In the conference held on Thursday, agendas were discussed on Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act & Rules, raising of plantations to achieve the NDC target, growing trees including palm, rubber and bamboo etc outside forest and facilities of doing business, integrated catchment areas treatment and distribution of CAMPA funds to the States, the official press statement said.
