Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Sep 19: Goa’s proposed spending on forest management and allied activities has faced significant cuts from the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), which has reduced the state’s 2026-27 outlay by nearly 27 per cent.

According to the minutes of the 40th meeting of the National CAMPA Executive Committee held on August 11, Goa had proposed a total outlay of Rs 43.77 crore under its Annual Plan of Operation (APO) for 2026-27. The authority approved Rs 37.19 crore.

Despite the reduction, the sanctioned amount is substantially higher than Goa’s allocation of Rs 14.96 crore in 2025-26 and Rs 13.74 crore in 2024-25.

The entire Rs 11.84 crore proposed for undertaking compensatory afforestation over 80 hectares was approved. However, the National CAMPA substantially reduced allocations for several other forest and wildlife-related components.

The sharpest reduction came under Rule 5(3) of the CAF Rules, 2018. Goa had sought Rs 4.86 crore under this category, but the authority approved only Rs 2.44 crore, a reduction of nearly 50 per cent.

The category covers activities such as modern nurseries, biodiversity conservation, communication and information technology equipment, inspection paths and forest roads, fire lines, watchtowers and check posts, besides monitoring and awareness programmes.

Goa had sought Rs 33.60 lakh for the establishment, upgradation and maintenance of modern nurseries, but only Rs 15.66 lakh was approved. Its proposal for Rs 50 lakh to promote conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity was rejected completely.

Similarly, against a demand of Rs 1.86 crore for communication and information technology equipment, only Rs 38.60 lakh was cleared.

The proposal for construction, upgradation and maintenance of inspection paths, forest roads, fire lines, watchtowers and check posts was reduced from Rs 41.25 lakh to Rs 14.50 lakh.

Under Rule 5(2), Goa had proposed Rs 19.64 crore for activities including assisted natural regeneration, artificial regeneration, protection of plantations and forests, forest-fire prevention, soil and moisture conservation, wildlife habitat improvement, animal rescue facilities and biodiversity management.

The National CAMPA approved Rs 15.47 crore, resulting in a reduction of more than Rs 4.17 crore.

Among these components, the allocation for protection of plantations and forests was reduced from Rs 4.67 crore to Rs 3.90 crore, while forest-fire prevention and control operations were cut from Rs 2.85 crore to Rs 2.11 crore.

The allocation for soil and moisture conservation was reduced from Rs 2.16 crore to Rs 1.75 crore. The proposal for improvement of wildlife habitat was cut from Rs 3.54 crore to Rs 2.13 crore.

The proposal for management of biological diversity and biological resources suffered an even sharper reduction, with the allocation brought down from Rs 1.29 crore to Rs 44.81 lakh.