BUFFER ZONE , A RELOOK

     (Image courtesy, Byjus)

In confirmation with a conviction being established in India now, every protected forest, national park and wild life sanctuary across the country should have a mandatory eco sensitive zone of a minimum one kilometre starting from their demarcated boundaries. Buffer zones provide critical habitat adjacent to streams and wet lands, as well as assist in controlling erosion, especially on unstable steep slopes. Buffers along streams and other water bodies also provide wildlife corridors, a protected area where wildlife can move from one place to another.

Buffer zone is not an age old scientific concept with absolute theoretical principles.The concept of buffer zone was first included in the Operational Guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Conversation in 1977. Nowadays as integrated functional part of nature reserve, a buffer zone has both functions of ecological buffer and social buffer.

While these could be the basics of buffer zone concept, Kerala can try to convince the  central government the following.

1. Where there is no human settlements, the buffer zones can be marked to a distance of 1 km  from the concerned forest, park or sanctuary.

2. In the case of populated regions  the distance can be made from 0.25 to 0.5 km from the concerned protected region.

3. Wherever tribal settlement is existing they should be left as it is untouched.

4. All existing dams should be retained with permission for normal construction/maintenance work.

(Above explanations, data's etc are gathered from different notifications)

K V George