ECOSENSITIVE ZONES
WHY IN NEWS?
- Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allay the apprehension of the people in Wayanad over the recent draft notification of the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) that envisages a buffer zone around the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS).
ABOUT
- The present draft issued by the MOEFCC notifies 118.59 sq km around the WWS as ESZ.
- But Kerala wants ESZ measuring 88.2 sq km around the WWS. The government is of the view that densely populated areas should be excluded while notifying ESZs.
CONCERNS
- Such a move would badly affect the lives of thousands of farmers on the fringes of the sanctuary spread over six villages under Mananthavady and Sulthan Bathery taluks.
- All development in eco-sensitive zones, including construction of roads and houses, would be affected and farmers would not be able to cut trees they had planted on their land without the permission of forest officials.
ECO-SENSITIVE ZONES (ESZs)
- Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) or Ecologically Fragile Areas (EFAs) are areas notified by the MoEFCC around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
- The purpose of declaring ESZs is to create some kind of “shock absorbers” to the protected areas by regulating and managing the activities around such areas.
- They also act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection.
- The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 does not mention the word “Eco-Sensitive Zones”.
- An ESZ could go up to 10 kms around a protected area as provided in the Wildlife Conservation Strategy, 2002.
- Moreover, in the case where sensitive corridors, connectivity, and ecologically important patches, crucial for landscape linkage, are beyond 10 km width, these should be included in the ESZs.