New Delhi, Apr 10 (PTI) In a bid to accelerate GIS-based forest boundary digitisation, states and UTs were asked to prepare a time-bound action plan on Friday at the workshop organised by the National Authority CAMPA, an advisory council under the Environment Ministry.
The workshop was organised to speed up the process to comply with the directions of a 2011 Supreme Court judgement.
During the workshop, it was decided that the National Authority CAMPA will function as the apex body for policy oversight, technical standardisation, establishment of a centralised National GIS Repository, and monitoring and quality assurance, etc.
Created under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016, the National Authority CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) oversees the implementation of afforestation and other conservation activities across states and Union territories (UTs).
The 2011 ruling directed all states and UTs to create and regularly update a GIS-based decision support database of geo-referenced forest land.
However, many have yet to show meaningful progress even after more than 14 years.
“Historically, forest boundaries have been recorded using traverse sketches and non-geo-referenced maps, leading to misclassification of forest areas, untraceable encroachments, overlapping claims under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and difficulties in implementing the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980,” an official said.
The GIS-based forest boundary digitisation is supposed to enable accurate identification of all forest lands irrespective of their legal notification status, strengthen monitoring of forest diversions and compensatory afforestation sites.
“Each state/UT has been directed to prepare a time-bound action plan as part of the Annual Plan of Operations (APO) for FY 2026-27, supported by Net Present Value (NPV) funds under Rule 5(3)(g) of the CAF Rules, 2018, with a three-year implementation period,” the official said.
Also, a comprehensive three-year technical and institutional framework was presented, encompassing geo-referencing, joint verification with revenue departments, dispute resolution, public consultation under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and establishment of GIS decision support systems in each state and UT. PTI ALC PRK
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