Govt clears Rs 3,000-cr scheme to save 15,000 sacred groves

Over 15,000 ‘sacred groves’ across the country will be conserved and restored under a new scheme — ‘Aastha Van Sanrakshan Yojana’ — which was approved on Friday, officials said.

The decision was taken at the 7th Governing Body meeting of the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management & Planning Authority (CAMPA) in Coimbatore, chaired by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav.

“The Governing Body approved the Aastha Van Sanrakshan Yojana, a new scheme with an initial corpus of Rs 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, along with a new scheme for landscape restoration, combating land degradation and biodiversity loss, to be supported from the national fund,” a senior official said.

‘Aastha Vans’ refers to sacred groves — small, protected forest patches revered by local communities for their cultural and religious significance.

The meeting reviewed the overall performance of CAMPA and considered several new proposals and initiatives aimed at strengthening compensatory afforestation, forest conservation and wildlife protection across the country.

It reviewed the net present value (NPV) and progress of compensatory afforestation activities carried out by states and UTs, along with the status of CAMPA funds received, approved and transferred during 2025-26.

The body also took note of the Certification Audit of the Annual Accounts of the National Authority CAMPA for FY 2024-25, conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

The governing body approved new wildlife and forestry conservation projects recommended by the executive committee of National CAMPA, including studies on the Conservation and Recovery Action Plan for River Dolphins, Project Snow Leopard Phase-II, Conservation Action Plan for the Indian Rhinoceros, and a pan-India conservation method for the wild water buffalo.

Further, the body approved continued support for the conservation of Manipur’s brow-antlered deer (Sangai).

“Under the Nagar Van Yojana, 652 nagar vans and vatikas have been developed with a release of Rs 571.50 crore, while Rs 7.28 crore has been released to ICFRE under the Green Credit Scheme to promote plantation-based green cover expansion. The Governing Body encouraged States and UTs to further scale up these initiatives,” an official said.