New Delhi, April 10 In an effort to accelerate the digitization of forest boundaries based on GIS, states and UTs were asked to prepare a time-bound action plan on Friday at a workshop organized by the National Authority CAMPA, an advisory council under the Ministry of Environment.
The workshop was organized to expedite the process to comply with the directions of a 2011 Supreme Court judgment.
During the workshop, it was decided that the National Authority CAMPA will function as the apex body for policy oversight, technical standardization, establishment of a centralized 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 digitization is intended to enable accurate identification of all forest lands, regardless of their legal notification status, strengthen monitoring of forest diversion 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.