In a bid to prevent ecological damages caused due to developmental activities around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries, the Environment Ministry has come out with new guidelines to create eco-sensitive zones which will work as "shock absorbers" for the protected areas.

The new eco-sensitive zones (ESZ) guidelines, declared by the Ministry on February 9, would also ensure that these areas are treated act as transition zones from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection.

"The basic aim 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," the Ministry said in its new guidelines.

The Ministry has asked all states to constitute a committee comprising the wildlife warden, an ecologist and a revenue department official of the area concerned to suggest the requirement of an eco-sensitive zone and its extent.

The panel could also suggest the best methods to manage such zones and broad-based thematic activities to be included in the master plan for the areas, which have been classified as prohibited, restricted with safeguards and permissible.

The guidelines said activities including commercial mining, setting of saw mills and industries causing pollution, commercial use of firewood, major hydropower projects are prohibited in such areas.

It also prohibits tourism activities like flying over protected areas in an aircraft or hot air balloon and discharge of effluents and solid waste in natural water bodies or terrestrial areas.

Felling of trees, drastic change in agriculture systems and commercial use of natural water resources, including groundwater harvesting and setting up of hotels and resorts are the activities regulated in the areas.

Activities permitted in the areas include ongoing agriculture and horticulture practices by local communities, rainwater harvesting, organic farming, adoption of green technology and use of renewable energy sources.

Observing that many protected areas have already undergone tremendous development in close vicinity of their boundaries and some are actually located in an urban set-up, the Ministry said the width of the ESZ will have to be kept flexible and protected area-specific.

"The width of the Eco-sensitive Zone and type of regulations will differ from protected area to protected area.

However, as a general principle the width of eco-sensitive zone could go upto 10 kms around a protected area as provided in the Wildlife Conservation Strategy-2002," it said.

"In case where sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important patches, crucial for landscape, are even beyond 10 kms, these should be included in the Eco-sensitive Zone," according to the guidelines.

"Further, even in context of a particular protected area of Eco-sensitive Zone the extent of regulation may not be uniform all around -- it could be of variable width and extent," it added.

The Ministry said all states and Union Territories were asked to forward site specific proposals to set up eco-sensitive zones. But only Haryana, Gujarat, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam and Goa have forwarded the proposals.