Summary:
Siddhant Nowlakha studied the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) during a fellowship with the Indian Institute for Human Settlements in Bengaluru. Man-elephant conflictProtecting this meagre buffer zone may be more than a challenge, finds the study. more-inAt least 73 eco-sensitive villages, of which 22 are ‘red list’ villages, have been left out of the buffer zone of the Bannerghatta National Park, which remains Bengaluru’s last big, urban forest. While a movement has started in the city, rather successfully, to curb mining projects close to the forest, the pressure on the buffer zone may be a bigger threat to the eco-sensitive national park. “The Ministry of Environment and Forests does allow for buffer zone to be reduced to 100 metres in densely populated areas, and this makes sense in the context of the northern edge where Bengaluru lies..