Question : Forest Cover

(a) the total area of forest cover in hectares in the country and the percentage thereof, State-wise;
(b) the details of the funds provided by Government for conservation, development and enrichment of the forests in various States including Goa during the last three years and the current year, scheme, State/UT and year-wise;
(c) whether Central projects are being run for promoting adaptation activities in several States of the country under the National Adaptation Fund on Climate Change and if so, the details thereof;
(d) whether instances of irregularities have been reported in connection with the plantation drives carried out under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act guidelines and if so, the details thereof; and
(e) the details of funds released for Goa under the said Act?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)

(a) Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, an organization under the Ministry, carries out the assessment of forest cover of the country biennially and findings are published in India State of Forest Report (ISFR). As per the latest report i.e. ISFR- 2019, the total forest cover in the country is 7,12,24,900 hectares which is 21.67% of the geographical area of the country. There is an increase of 3,97,600 hectares of total forest cover compared to that of ISFR-2017. State/UT wise details of forest cover along with percentage as per ISFR-2019 is given in Annexure-I.

(b) Details of fund released by the Ministry for conservation, development and expansion of forests under National Afforestation Programme, Green India Mission and Development of Wildlife Habitats schemes during the last three years and the current year to States/UTs including Goa are given in Annexure-II, III, IV respectively.
Under Compensatory Afforestation Funds (CAF), funds were released during 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and part of 2019-20 by the Ad-hoc Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA). The Statement of State-wise release is at Annexure V. After formation of National Authority under Compensatory Afforestation (CAF) Act, 2016, a sum of Rs. 47436.18 Crore have been deposited in State funds as per the provision of the CAF Act, 2016. State-wise details of fund deposited in State fund are at Annexure VI.

(c) National Adaptation Fund on Climate Change (NAFCC) is a Central Scheme which was operationalised in 2015-16 and is continuing beyond 12th Five Year Plan till 31st March, 2020 with a financial implication of Rs. 364 Crore. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development is the National implementation Entity. The fund is meant to support concrete adaptation activities which are not covered under on-going activities through the schemes of State and National Government that reduce the adverse effects of climate change facing community, sector and states. Till date, 30 projects submitted by State Governments have been approved under NAFCC at a total cost of Rs. 847.48 Crore out of which Rs. 459.21 Crore has been released to cover the vulnerable sectors of Water, Agriculture and Animal Husbandary, Forestry, Ecosystems and Biodiversity etc. The details of expenditure incurred under the NAFCC during the last three financial years and the current year are given in Annexure VII.

(d) The implementation of schemes including plantation schemes under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act 2016 and their monitoring is the primary responsibility of the respective State/UTs. The complaints alleging irregularities in plantations, etc are forwarded to respective States/UTs for examination and follow up action accordingly.

(e) An amount of Rs.238.16 Crore was released to the State of Goa on 29th August, 2019 in accordance with the provisions of Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016.
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