Wildllife Buffer Zone-2

Goa is a state with a land mass of roughly 3,700 square km, small by Indian standards. Of this, 755 square km is occupied by six wildlife sanctuaries and a national park, that is nearly one-fifth of the state. An economy growing at the rate of nearly 10 per cent per year has placed enormous pressure on land resources.

A burgeoning building industry and uncontrolled mining have added a dimension that is worrying. Now with the Ministry of Forest and Environment (MoEF) introducing stricter guidelines for protection of sanctuaries and national parks, the state could be in a bit of a quandary–caught between the need to protect the environment and development pressures.

The new guidelines envisage a 10 km buffer zone around sanctuaries and national parks and the formation of a committee comprising the wildlife warden, an ecologist and a revenue department official to suggest the contours of the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ). The guidelines have their genesis in a decision taken by the National Board for Wild Life in March 2007 and are aimed at creating a buffer zone around sanctuaries where development could be regulated.

Goa has sought certain relaxations. Presently, mining, saw mills, polluting industries, hydropower projects and certain tourism related activities are prohibited. Of all these prohibitions, it is mining that will ultimately decide the future course of the guidelines, because governments, past and present, have shown little or no will to reign in the mining barons. Fear of a ban on mining is also holding back the Maharashtra government from notifying the ESZs.

Being a small state there is limited space for creating an interface between habitation and the forests. This situation is by no means unique to Goa.

The proposal for a buffer around the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali and the Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary in Sholapur were rejected because clusters of buildings and apartments in the vicinity. Recently, Goa faced strong opposition over plans to reclassify the Cotigao Wild Life Sanctuary and Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary as critical wild life habitats.

There are two kinds of fears associated with any decision concerning forest protection. One is that the new classification will open the back door to construction. The second is that it will restrict access to areas and block economic activity.

The dilemma for the states of Goa and even Maharashtra is that the Western Ghats, which have been designated as a bio-diversity hot spot is also rich in minerals, especially iron ore deposits. There is considerable pressure to permit mining in areas close to the existing sanctuaries.

Transparency is always the best way of taking forward complex decisions of this sort. The guidelines are flexible in the sense that the 10 km rule is not absolute and a certain amount of deviation will be allowed, provided it is well thought out and not initiated only to save mining interests.

Creation of buffer zones is essential. However, for this to start the government must constitute the committees and get on with the work of surveying the area.

This will not be very difficult as the bulk of the work has already been completed by the Task Force for RP-2021 and the State Level Committee.

It is only on completion of the survey that the government will be in a position to decide what concessions are required.
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Courtesy: Navhind Times, February 20, 2011