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The Union Environment Ministry has issued fresh guidelines to states and Union Territories for utilizing degraded forest lands for compensatory afforestation (CA). This directive comes after the ministry’s recent notifications on the Green Credit Programme (August 29, 2025) and the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Amendment Rules, 2025 (August 31, 2025) , which significantly amend the Forest Conservation Rules, 2023 . What is Compensatory Afforestation? Compensatory afforestation is the legal requirement for industries and infrastructure projects that divert forest land for development. To balance ecological loss: Projects must plant trees over an equivalent area of non-forest land . If non-forest land is unavailable, they must afforest double the area of degraded forest land . This practice ensures that industrial development is aligned with ecological restoration and India’s carbon neutrality goals . Green Credits and Their Role Under the revised Green Credit Program...

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has issued a notification introducing a strict benchmark for awarding Green Credits . Under this framework, an applicant will only be eligible for Green Credit after achieving 40% canopy density on a degraded forest land parcel, following a minimum of five years of restoration activities . The move is part of the government’s broader Green Credit Programme , designed to incentivize ecological restoration, encourage corporate participation in afforestation efforts, and link environmental performance with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting . Green Credit Rules 2023: Legal Basis and Objective The Green Credit Rules, 2023 , were notified in October 2023 under Sections 3, 6, and 25 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 . The rules empower companies, private entities, and other stakeholders to take up plantation and restoration projects on degraded land , including open forest areas, scrubla...