Coal India Limited (CIL) subsidiary, The South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) has successfully implemented the Accredited Compensatory Afforestation (ACA) guidelines.
Key Achievements of the SECL
- Identification for Accredited Compensatory Afforestation (ACA): SECL in response to the ACA guidelines identified approximately 2,245 hectares of afforested non-forest de-coaled land, with 1,424 hectares in Chhattisgarh and 821 hectares in Madhya Pradesh.
- ACA Land Banks: These lands were identified as suitable for ACA and were proposed to the respective State Forest Departments for notification as ACA land banks.
- Biological Reclamation and Plantation: It has undertaken projects in Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh to transform de-coaled lands into thriving ecosystems with local species such as Teak, Sal, Babul, Neem, and others.
- Biodiversity Enrichment: The reclaimed lands now host a rich variety of flora and fauna, including species like the Sloth Bear, Fox, and various reptiles and migratory birds, which have recolonized the area, particularly around water bodies
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About Accredited Compensatory Afforestation Guidelines
- Accredited Compensatory Afforestation (ACA) is a system of proactive afforestation, where afforestation raised in advance on non-forest land can be used to obtain prior approval under Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980.
- The Guidelines were notified after the recommendation of the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) and approved by the MoEF&CC on January 24, 2023
- The proposals for ACA will be in the form of online submission, processing, and approval of proposals on a web portal.
- Aim: It aims to streamline the Forest Clearance approval process, reducing Compensatory Afforestation costs, and enhancing afforestation efforts.
- Purpose: The ACA guidelines encourage both government institutions and private landowners to undertake afforestation on fallow lands, thereby increasing the Trees Outside Forests (TOF) and supporting biodiversity
- Preconditions of raising ACA:
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- Land on which the provisions of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 are not applicable and which is free from all encumbrances should be considered for ACA
- Non-forest land, including mined out and biologically reclaimed non-forest land, ownership of which vests with the State PSU or Central PSU, may also be considered for ACA.
- Demarcation of land: Land should be properly demarcated and fenced to ensure its protection from various biotic factors
- Minimum Area:Such land should cover an area of minimum ten hectares to be considered for afforestation towards ACA.
- Contiguous to forest Area: Afforestation over land of any size situated in the continuity of land declared or notified as forest under any law, Protected Area, Tiger Reserve or within a designated tiger or wildlife corridor, may be considered for ACA
- Canopy density: An afforestation shall be counted towards ACA if such land has vegetation composed predominantly of trees having canopy density of 0.4 or more and the trees are at least five years old.
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Compensatory Afforestation
- Compensatory Afforestation is a mechanism stipulated by the Central Government as one of the most important conditions for approving proposals for de-reservation or diversion of forest land for non-forest use.
- Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act of 2016: This act made a legal requirement to ensure that newer parcels of equivalent land are earmarked for developing them as forests by the Project developers (public or private) and are required to fund the entire afforestation activity on these new lands.
- Net Present Value (NPV): Project developers are also required to pay the Net Present Value (NPV) of the forests being cleared, based on a calculation decided by an expert committee.
- Presently companies are to pay NPV at rates ranging between Rs 9.5 lakh and Rs 16 lakh per hectare, depending on the quality of forests getting diverted.
- Fund Allocation: Establishes a National Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of India, & a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of each state.
- The National Fund receives 10% & State Fund gets 90% of funds collected.
- Fund Utilization: The funds are utilized for afforestation, regeneration of forest ecosystem, wildlife protection & infrastructure development.
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August 20, 2024
