Conservation projects for river dolphins, three other species get CAMPA nod

The governing body of the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) on Friday (July 10, 2026) gave the nod to four new conservation projects for river dolphins, snow leopards, wild water buffalo, and Indian rhinoceros.

The projects approved are studies on the conservation and recovery action plan for river dolphins, Project Snow Leopard Phase-II (including the second cycle of population estimation), the conservation action plan for the Indian Rhinoceros, and a pan-India conservation approach for the wild water buffalo, all recommended by the executive committee of the CAMPA national authority.

The governing body of National CAMPA, at its seventh meeting in Coimbatore under the chairmanship of Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupendra Yadav, on Friday (July 10, 2026), also gave assent for continued support for the conservation of Manipur’s brow-antlered deer, Sangai.

It approved the Aastha Van Sanrakshan Yojana, a new scheme with an initial corpus of ₹3,000 crore over five years (2026-27 to 2030-31) for the conservation and restoration of nearly 15,000 sacred groves across the country. It assessed the progress of net present value (NPV) and compensatory afforestation activities carried out by States and Union Territories, along with the status of CAMPA funds received, approved, and transferred during 2025-26.

Establishment of a dedicated geospatial monitoring and evaluation system (GIS Lab) for the CAMPA national authority, a unified and technology-driven framework using satellite imagery, GIS platforms and field verification to enable transparent and scientific monitoring of compensatory afforestation, NPV-supported activities and ongoing CAMPA-funded schemes were also reviewed, a release said.

Editorial | Worrying downgrade — On snow leopard conservation

The governing body appreciated operationalisation of the digital annual plan for the 2026-27 cycle, under which States and U.T.s are now required to prepare and submit their annual plans of operation exclusively through an online system.

The governing body also noted that an amount of ₹88.40 crore has so far been released for plantation and restoration of mangroves across six States/U.T.s under the Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes. A revised outlay and three-year extension of the programme till 2029 with an additional ₹500 crore will take the overall outlay to ₹600 crore under a landscape-based, multi-ecosystem approach to coastal restoration.

Under the Nagar Van Yojana, 652 Nagar Vans/Vatikas (urban forests/parks)have been developed with a release of ₹571.50 crore and ₹7.28 crore has been released to Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) under the Green Credit Scheme to promote plantation-based green cover expansion, said the release.