Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) in India

Eco Sensitive Zone in India are pivotal for conserving ecosystems and wildlife habitats. Defined by the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, these zones minimize the negative impacts of human activities around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries. In this article, you will learn about meaning of Eco Sensitive Zones, Criteria for declaration, Significance and Challenges faced by ESZs. It is very important topic for GS Paper-3 Environment & Ecology of UPSC CSE Exam.

Table of Content

• What is Eco Sensitive Zones (ESZ)?
• Extent of Eco Sensitive Zones
• Declaration of Eco Sensitive Zones
• Criteria for declaration of Eco Sensitive Zones
• Eco Sensitive Zone Guidelines, 2011
• Significance of Eco Sensitive Zones
• Challenges of Eco Sensitive Zones
• Supreme Court Order on Eco Sensitive Zone
• Power of Central Government related to Environmental conservation
• Gadgil Committee and Kasturirangan Committee
• Conclusion

What is Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ)?

• They are areas in India notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
  • Protected areas cover 5.26% of India’s land area as 108 national parks and 564 wildlife sanctuaries. They are notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.
• It drives its power from the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 which does not mention the word “Eco-Sensitive Zones”.
• Also known as Ecologically Fragile Areas (EFAs), the objective of Eco Sensitive Zones is to regulate certain activities around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries so as to minimise the negative impacts of such activities on the fragile ecosystem encompassing the protected areas.
• As of January 2023, Governments have notified 341 ESZs in 29 States and 5 Union territories, while another 85 ESZs are awaiting notification. Together, protected areas and the ESZs cover 8.66% of India’s land area.

Extent of Eco Sensitive Zones:

• An ESZ could go up to 10 km around a protected area as provided in the Wildlife Conservation Strategy, 2002.
• Zones extending beyond 10 km may also be designated as ESZs by the central government if they encompass ecologically significant “sensitive corridors” of larger extent.
• The distribution of an area of ESZ and the extent of regulation may not be uniform all around and it could be of variable width and extent.
• The range of ESZs extends from the perimeter of a conservation area and can reach up to 45.82 km, as seen in the case of Pin Valley National Park (Himachal Pradesh). There are 15 states where ESZs stretch beyond 10 km.
• ESZs in 10 states – Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Telangana – are located within the Scheduled Areas as identified under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.
  • These Scheduled Areas, constituting over 11% of India’s total landmass, are characterized by dense forests and mountainous terrain.
  • These regions are formally recognized by the President under Article 244 of the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, also known as PESA, enacted in 1996.

Declaration of Eco Sensitive Zones:

• Central government can prohibit or restrict the location of industries and carrying on certain operations on the basis of considerations like:
  • Biological diversity of an area
  • Maximum allowable limits of concentration of pollutants for an area
  • Environmentally compatible land use
  • Proximity to protected areas
• The same criteria have been used by the government to declare No Development Zones.

Criteria for declaration of Eco Sensitive Zones:

• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change lays down parameters and criteria for declaring ESAs based on:
• Species Based (Endemism, Rarity etc),
• Ecosystem Based (sacred groves, frontier forests etc) and
• Geomorphologic feature based (uninhabited islands, origins of rivers etc).

Eco Sensitive Zone Guidelines, 2011

The Guidelines for declaration of eco sensitive zones (2011) classify activities under three categories:

Prohibited Activities:

1. Commercial mining – Regulation will not prohibit the digging of earth for construction for repair of houses and for manufacture of country tiles or bricks for housing for personal consumption
2. Setting of saw mills
3. Setting of industries causing pollution (water, air, soil, noise etc)
4. Commercial use of firewood – For hotels and other business-related establishments
5. Establishment of major hydroelectric projects
6. Use or production of any hazardous substances
7. Undertaking activities related to tourism like over-flying the National Park area by any aircraft, hot-air balloons
8. Discharge of effluent and solid waste in natural water bodies or terrestrial area

Regulated

1. Felling of trees – With permission from appropriate authority
2. Establishment of hotels – As per approved master plan, which takes care of habitats allowing no restriction on movement of wild animals
3. Drastic change of agriculture systems
4. Commercial use of natural water resources including ground water harvesting – As per approved master plan, which takes care of habitats allowing no restriction on movement of wild animals
5. Erection of electrical cables – Promote underground cabling
6. Fencing of premises of hotels and lodges
7. Use of polythene bags by shopkeepers
8. Widening of roads – This should be done with proper EIA and mitigation measures
9. Movement of vehicular traffic at night – For commercial purpose
10. Introduction of exotic species
11. Protection of hill slopes and river banks – As per the master plan
12. Air and vehicular pollution
13. Sign boards & hoardings

Permitted

1. Ongoing agriculture and horticulture practices by local communities – However, excessive expansion of some of these activities should be regulated as per the master plan
2. Rain water harvesting – Should be actively promoted
3. Organic farming – Should be actively promoted
4. Use of renewable energy sources – Should be actively promoted
5. Adoption of green technology for all activities – Should be actively promoted

Process for Declaration of Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZ)

1. Formation of a committee comprising wildlife experts, ecologists, revenue department officials, and local administration representatives to assess activities around protected areas.
2. Committee conducts an audit, analysing land use patterns, various activities, and industrial operations near protected areas and wildlife corridors.
3. The Chief Wildlife Warden classifies activities as prohibited, restricted, or permissible.
4. The committee submits its final recommendations to the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change for review, and implementation via notification.
5. The Ministry officially designates the area as an Ecologically Sensitive Zone.

Significance of Eco Sensitive Zone

• They reduce the adverse effects of urbanization and other developmental activities near protected areas.
• They contribute to in-situ conservation efforts, focusing on the protection of endangered species within their natural habitats.
• By creating buffer zones around protected areas, ESZs help minimize forest depletion and man-animal conflict.
• Based on a core and buffer management approach, protected areas safeguard not only ecosystems but also offer protection to nearby communities.
• They function as transitional zones between areas of high protection and those with less stringent protection measures.
• They serve as “shock absorbers” for protected areas, ensuring a gradual transition from high protection zones to areas with lesser protection.

Challenges of Eco Sensitive Zones

While ESZs provide essential protection to ecosystems, they also face several challenges, including:

• Climate change has generated land, water, and ecological stress on ESZs.
  • Example: Frequent Forest fires and the Assam floods have severely affected wildlife of Kaziranga National Park.
• Implementation of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 and the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 sometimes leads authorities to disregard the rights of forest communities, negatively impacting their lives and livelihoods.
• The restrictions posed by ESZ may hinder the daily activities of local residents, leading to apprehension.
  • Traditional practices of the local population have been adversely affected by existing limitations, causing worries about potential deterioration of their socioeconomic conditions.
• Constructing dams, roads, and urban or rural infrastructure within Eco-Sensitive Zones can disrupt the environment and create imbalances in the ecological system.
• To accommodate the growing demand for eco-tourism, land surrounding parks and sanctuaries is being cleared through deforestation and displacing local populations.
• Agricultural practices like slash-and-burn, the burden of a growing population, and an increasing demand for firewood and forest products all exert pressure on protected areas.

Supreme Court Order on Eco Sensitive Zone

• In April 2023, the Supreme Court has revised its previous ruling on eco-sensitive zones (ESZ), acknowledging that ESZs cannot be uniform across the entire country.  
• Supreme Court’s previous judgement on eco sensitive zone stated that ESZs should be designated at a minimum distance of 1 km around protected forests, national parks, and wildlife sanctuaries and thus prevented new construction in eco sensitive zone.

Key Points from the Supreme Court’s Modified Order

• The purpose of declaring ESZs is to protect the environment and wildlife, not to hinder the day-to-day activities of citizens.
• The Centre and States should notify ESZs based on their proposals or expert committee recommendations within six months.
• Mining within national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and within 1 km of their boundaries remains prohibited.

Power of Central Government related to Environmental conservation

• The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 does not mention the word “Eco-Sensitive Zones”.
• However, Section 3 of the Environment protection empowers Ministry of Environment and Forests to take all measures for protecting and improving the quality of the environment and to prevent and control environmental pollution.
• As per Rule 5(1) of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 (EPA), central government can prohibit or restrict the location of industries and carry-on certain operations on the basis of certain considerations.

Gadgil Committee and Kasturirangan Committee

Gadgil Committee

• The Gadgil Committee, also known as the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, was assigned by the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India.
• It submitted its report on August 31, 2011.

Gadgil Committee recommended:

• A National-level authority, Western Ghats Ecology Authority (WGEA) as a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
• Classifying the entire Western Ghats as ESAs into three ESA categories, with ESA-1 being the highest priority where almost all developmental activities like mining, thermal power plants were restricted.
• Permitting only limited developmental activities within these areas.
• A shift from top-down to bottom-up governance for environmental issues, with local governance playing a significant role.

Protest

• There was opposition to the report’s implementation, especially in Kerala, where many farmers who depend on hilly regions for their livelihood felt threatened.
  • Large numbers of people had migrated and acquired forest land in Wayanad and other areas during the 20^th century.
• Recommendations also faced backlash for their perceived environmental bias and lack of consideration of the local realities.

Kasturirangan Committee

• The Kasturirangan Commission tried strike a balance between development needs and environmental conservation, by moderating the stringent environmental guidelines proposed by the Gadgil report in 2012.

Kasturirangan Committee recommended:

• Designating 37% of the Western Ghats (about 60,000 sq km) as an Eco-Sensitive Area (ESA).
• A complete prohibition on mining, quarrying, red category industries, and thermal power projects in these areas.
• Emphasizes the necessity of studying the environmental impact of infrastructure projects before granting permissions.
• Recognizes the UNESCO Heritage tag as an opportunity to globally highlight the Western Ghats’ vast natural resources.
• Urges state governments to formulate plans to protect, conserve, and value the resources of this region.
• Strictly banned Red industries (highly polluting) in ESZs. in these areas.
• Exclusion of populated areas and plantations from ecologically sensitive areas ESAs.

Conclusion

The Indian government should continue to prioritize the establishment and regulation of Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) to protect fragile ecosystems and mitigate the impact of human activities. To address the challenges faced by ESZs, it is essential to adopt adaptive management strategies that consider climate change and respect the rights of forest communities. Furthermore, the government should enhance collaboration between central and state authorities to effectively notify and enforce ESZs, ensuring a sustainable balance between environmental conservation and human development.

Ref: Source-1

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