---
title: "Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZ): India Buffer Rules"
description: "Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZ) are regulated buffers around India's protected areas, crucial for conservation efforts and limiting harmful activities."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/eco-sensitive-zones"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- Eco-Sensitive Zones are regulated buffer areas around protected forests, national parks, and wildlife sanctuaries in India where ecologically harmful activities are restricted by central notification.
- What is the legal authority for declaring an Eco-Sensitive Zone?
- Is there a fixed distance for an ESZ around a protected area?
- What activities are prohibited within an Eco-Sensitive Zone?
- How does an ESZ differ from a tiger reserve buffer zone?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

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## Timeline

1. 3 June 2022

   Union of India\* of , which directed that every protected area across India maintain a mandatory minimum ESZ of one kilometre from its demarcated boundary and…

2. 26 April 2023

   On the Court modified its position, clarifying that the rigid one-kilometre rule would not apply uniformly where MoEFCC notifications already prescribed zon…

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Example

In its judgment of 3 June 2022, the Supreme Court of India directed a mandatory minimum one-kilometre Eco-Sensitive Zone around every national park and wildlife sanctuary, a ruling it later modified on 26 April 2023.

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