State to present Rs 325-cr Action Plan under CAMPA

Orissa will soon present an additional five-year Action Plan beginning 2011-12 of Rs 325 crore to the Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) under Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).

The Action Plan was recently approved by the Steering Committee of State CAMPA chaired by the state Chief Secretary B K Patnaik.

"We had initially submitted an Action Plan of Rs 180 crore under CAMPA to the MoEF and the ministry has already approved Rs 160 crore. Now, we are going to present an additional five-year Action Plan beginning 2011-12 of Rs 325 crore to the ministry", said Aurobindo Behera, principal secretary (forest & environment).

The additional Action Plan aims at enhancing forest protection on the joint forest management mode. The joint forest management mode envisages active involvement and participation of people for protection and enrichment of forest through Vana Sanrakshyana Samities (VSS).

It was decided at the recent meeting of the steering committee of State CAMPA that in the first phase, 5000 such VSSs will be included in the programme over a period of five years beginning 2011-12.

The activities of the VSSs would include assisting natural regeneration, planting of the species as per choice of the community and protection of forests through micro planning.

It has also been decided that Vana Chetana Kendras will be set up in the VSS areas to provide a platform for interaction, capacity building of the community and awareness activities for better implementation of the programme.

Initially, 2500 such centres would be built and each VSS will be assigned 1000 hectares of forest for growth and protection.

At the meeting, the Chief Secretary asked the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) to explore the possibilities of having one single bank account of CAMPA funds for all the districts. He also stressed on expediting allocation, utilization and monitoring of fund management.