Western Ghosts: Kerala's Buffer Zone War

It’s one of the richest biodiversity hotspots on the planet, with even new species being discovered by biologists practically every other year.

- Jeemon Jacob

WESTERN GHATS

But Kerala’s Ghat section is no pristine rainforest untouched by human hand. All along its north-south stretch, its edges have been progressively eaten up by rubber plantations, hotels and resorts and the sort of plain human habitation that Kerala is dense with. No wonder the June 3 Supreme Court ruling on a 1 km buffer zone for India’s protected forests saw that part of Kerala erupt in public protests. Farmers’ organisations in many of the 14 districts are up in arms. So are the state’s political parties, as well as the influential Catholic church.

A three-judge bench had originally pronounced the judgement on a petition seeking protection of forest lands in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, but then decided to extend it to the rest of the country. The judgement referenced the guidelines on buffer zones issued in 2011 by the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF&CC).