NAP Glance

7/28/2019 NAP Glance

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National Afforestation Programme (NAP) Scheme: At A Glance

(1) Background: MoEF was operating four centrally sponsored afforestation schemes duringthe 9th Plan, i.e. Integrated Afforestation and Eco-development Project Scheme (IAEPS),

Area Oriented Fuel wood and Fodder Project Scheme (AOFFPS), Conservation of Non-Timber Forest Produce including Medicinal Plants (NTFPS), and Association of ST andRural Poor in Regeneration of Degraded Forests (ASTRPS). The Mid-Term Evaluation ofthe projects under these Schemes recommended a decentralised approach and speedyfund transfer mechanism. Taking cue from these recommendations, a Pilot Scheme,Samnavit Gram Vanikaran Samridhi Yojana (SGVSY) was launched in 2000-01 utilisingthe delivery mechanism of Forest Development Agency (FDA) and Joint ForestManagement Committee (JFMC). 47 Pilot projects launched during 9 th Plan werehighly successful in terms of achievement of the set objectives.

As per 10th Plan document of Planning Commission relating to the Forests andEnvironment sector (para 9.1.27), the National Afforestation Programme (NAP) Schemewas initiated by scaling-up the SGVSY project experience and converging allafforestation schemes of the 9th Plan period to avoid duplicity or redundancy, and at the

same time keeping in focus the decentralization agenda of the government. NAP isbeing operated as a 100% Central Sector Scheme.

(2) Objectives:

The overall objective of the scheme is to develop the forest resources with peoplesparticipation, with focus on improvement in livelihoods of the forest-fringe communities,especially the poor.

NAP Scheme aims to support and accelerate the ongoing process of devolving forestprotection, management and development functions to decentralized institutions of JointForest Management Committee (JFMC) at the village level, and Forest DevelopmentAgency (FDA) at the forest division level.

(3) Components:

Financial support under NAP Scheme is available for:

(a) Mobilisation of village JFMC, and Micro-planning in project villages

(b) Afforestation following components:o Aided Natural Regeneration

o Artificial Regeneration

o Bamboo plantation

o Cane Plantation

o Mixed Plantation of trees having MFP & medicinal value

o Regeneration of perennial herbs & shrubs of medicine value

o Pasture Development/ Silvipasture

(c) Soil & Moisture Conservation

(d) Entry Point Activity (for village development; average assistance Rs. 1.6 lakh pervillage)

(e) Fencing, Monitoring & Evaluation, Training, Awareness raising, Overheads

(4) Institutional framework and its strengthening

The NAP is being implemented through a 2-tier structure of Forest Development Agency

(FDA) at the forest division level and Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) at thevillage level. Thus, FDA is the confederation of JFMCs in that forest division. FDAs areregistered under the Societies Registration Act. JFMCs are registered either with theForest Department or under Statutory provisions. The district-level officers of relevantline departments of the State Govt. and Panchayat Raj Institution are members of FDA.


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The recent experience with present institutional framework of FDA at the forest divisionlevel and JFMC at the village level is encouraging. All 28 States have adopted thisinstitutional framework including in the Autonomous Hill Districts in Assam, Meghalayaand Mizoram.

The institutions of FDAs and JFMCs are highly innovative resource transfer mechanismswhereby the Govt of India channelises funds directly to the grass root level implementingagency for the afforestation activities.

The structure of FDAs and JFMCs also caters to the gender concerns, whereby womenmembership to the extent of 50% has been made mandatory in these bodies. Members ofSchedule Castes and Schedule Tribes are the focus group in JFMCs.

Training of FDA and JFMC members is organized by State Forest Departments, as wellas by the Regional Centres of National Afforestation and Eco-development Board (7Regional Centres in the country).

To help and guide the FDAs and JFMCs, there is also a National-level SteeringCommittee of NAP and another at State level called State-level Coordination committeechaired respectively by Secretary (Environment and Forests), Government of India, andChief Secretary of the State Government.

The following additional steps are being undertaken to further strengthen theseinstitutions:-

(a) A Training Needs Assessment exercise is being undertaken by the RegionalCentres of National Afforestation and Eco-development Board to identify theneeds and capacities of different categories of staff and members of JFMCs andFDAs for efficient implementation of NAP, and subsequently develop trainingmodules for the same.

(b) It is proposed to encourage linkage of JFMCs with other rural developmentprogramme. JFMCs may leverage outside funds to augment Entry PointActivity component of NAP for this purpose.

(c) It is also proposed to formulate a financial management manual for FDAs and

JFMCs so as to strengthen account keeping at the local level, and thus,empower communities for local-level decision making.

(d) A national level JFM study has also been launched to assess strengths andweaknesses of implementation of JFM, and the progress of empowerment ofthe local communities in decision-making.

(e) Establish a system of e-governance in National Afforestation and Eco-development Board.

(5) Monitoring and evaluation mechanism

(a) With a view to increasing the efficiency of NAP to meet the above goals, the

monitoring and evaluation (M&E) exercise of the FDA projects is undertakenboth by the State and Central Governments.

(b) National Afforestation and Eco-development Board undertakes the firstindependent mid-term evaluation of the FDA projects within 24 months ofsanction of the project with focus on peoples participation, functioning of JFMCs/EDCs and the micro-planning exercise.

(c) The final evaluation is required to be carried in the fourth year of the Project.

(d) So far, National Afforestation and Eco-development Board has launched mid-term evaluation in respect of 250 FDA projects (including 47 Projects underSGVSY Scheme of the IX Plan).

(e) In addition, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) has randomly selected 60 FDAs

each in 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 for monitoring of area coverage andforest cover increase therein.


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(6) Activities undertaken so far

715 FDAs have been operationalised so far at a cost of Rs. 1,514.79 Crores to treat a

total area of 9.23 lakh ha. (as on 31.3.2006). Bamboo plantation, medicinal plants andJatropha have been given adequate focus under NAP during the current plan period.State Governments have been advised to earmark 10% of the project area under NAP, asper feasibility, for Jatropha plantation. Rehabilitation of jhumlands (shifting cultivation)have been given specific focus under the programme, and so far 19 jhum projects havebeen sanctioned in NE States and in Orissa.

(7) Progress/ Achievement made during 2005-06

95 new FDA projects have also been sanctioned to cover an area of 55,232 hectarethrough 2,391 Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs). These include 12 newFDA projects in the North East to cover a total project area of 5380 ha. through 183JFMCs. An amount of Rs. 248.58 Crores has been released to Forest DevelopmentAgencies during current financial year, out of which the release to North Eastern States isRs. 45.80 Crores (up to 31.3.2006).

(8) Physical Outputs and Expected Outcomes

The goal of NAP is to promote improvement or increase in forest and tree cover. Two

outcome parameters have, therefore, been identified with respect to NAP:

(i) 5 years after sanction, new plantations would, for each bio-geographic region, show

the prescribed survival rates.

(ii) 6 to 12 years, after sanction, depending on the species, the new plantations would

be revealed as either new area under Forest and Tree Cover or enrichment of forest

cover in Satellite Imagery

(9) Comparison of progress as compared to previous years

Year-wise progress of National Afforestation Programme in the Tenth Five Year Plan is

given in the table below.

Year No. of new FDAprojectsoperationalised

No. of JFMCs Project Area Release (Rs.Crores)

2002-03 237 8209 405631 151.26

2003-04 231 7850 283272 207.98

2004-05 105 3474 107963 233.002005-06(up to 31.3.2006)

95 2,391 55,232 248.58

(10) State-wise Status


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Progress of Forest Development Agency (FDA) projects from April, 2000 onwards(As on 31.3.2006)

Sl. No. Name of State/UnionTerritory

No. of FDAProjects/Proposals

sanctioned

Total project cost (inRs. crores)

Area (inha.)

1 Andhra Pradesh 32 83.02 47400

2 Chhattisgarh 32 73.83 42514

3 Gujarat 21 60.87 30445

4 Haryana 18 53.44 22105

5 Himachal Pradesh 27 52.38 32378

6 Jammu & Kashmir ** 31 74.61 47839

7 Karnataka 45 112.15 59180

8 Madhya Pradesh 49 112.48 76520

9 Maharashtra 45 98.62 65738

10 Orissa 40 69.65 55022

11 Punjab 9 17.65 8235

12 Rajasthan 33 39.22 28190

13 Tamil Nadu 32 93.60 52253

14 Uttar Pradesh 58 104.35 63004

15 Uttaranchal 37 54.17 39134

16 Goa 3 2.39 1250

17 Jharkhand 30 56.33 39850

18 Bihar 10 16.12 12315

19 Kerala 24 47.54 16250

20 West Bengal 17 39.07 22856

Total (Other States) 593 1261.49 762478

21 Arunachal Pradesh 19 27.04 21416

22 Assam 29 36.56 26955

23 Manipur 13 26.58 18374

24 Nagaland 16 37.71 25528

25 Sikkim 7 27.72 15280

26 Tripura 12 25.57 19405

27 Mizoram 19 60.12 26770

28 Meghalaya 7 12.00 7400

Total (NE States) 122 253.30 161128

TOTAL 715 1514.79 923606

(11) Budget Allocation of the Scheme and Progress of Expenditure

Revised Estimate for the scheme during 2005-06 was Rs. 248.58 crores, out of which Rs.248.58 crores were released till 31.3.06


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(12) Implementing organization along with details

The NAP Scheme is being implemented through two-tier decentralized mechanism of

Forest Development Agency (FDA) at Forest Division Level and Joint ForestManagement Committees (JFMCs) at the village level.

(13) New initiatives under the scheme

A number of initiatives have been taken by the Ministry to expedite the implementation ofthe scheme as well improve the qualitative aspects of implementation. These include: (i)in-principle decision has been taken by the National-level Steering Committee forelectronic transfer the funds from Government of India to the FDAs to cut-down thedelays, (ii) efforts are being made to step-up monitoring and evaluation of the FDAprojects by activation of State-level Coordination Committees for NAP, increased fieldvisit by officers, and expeditious commissioning by the States of first independentconcurrent evaluation of FDA projects, (iii) 10 programmes have been arranged throughthe Directorate of Forest Education for training and capacity building of front-line staff ofFDAs and JFMCs, and (iv) 45 district-level inter-departmental linkage workshops havebeen approved in the work programme of the Regional Centres of NAEB for the year2005-06 and 2006-07 for promoting the linkage of NAP with other developmentalprogrammes for enhancing the sustainability of JFM, and (v) a new component has beenadded in NAP to universalize JFM in all forest-fringe villages in the country.

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NAP Glance