Planning for settlements surrounding protected areas

Abstract

Protected areas (PAs) are integral in sustaining the equilibrium between development and biodiversity conservation. They are essential in mediating the influences of anthropological activities on the ecosystem and filtering its adverse effects. The primary function of PAs is to isolate elements of biodiversity from courses of anthropological and natural actions that threaten their existence. A recent assessment has proven that most terrestrial PAs are protected competently within their boundaries on a global level. Despite the strict level of protection provided to PAs, many cannot function as originally envisioned. This is because, in today's scenario, urbanization is exponentially increasing.”Urban areas currently accommodate 55 percent of the world's population, which is expected to increase up to 68 percent by 2050 as per United Nations (UN) projections”. Radical urban growth has put immense pressure on the ground to meet the urban lifestyle's growing demands, which inevitably decreases the distance between PAs. Thus, the attributes of urban and PAs contradict each other and draw challenges that pose a grave danger to the environment and humanity. With increasing urbanization and its impact on PAs, this research undertakes a transboundary protected area (TBPA), Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary (SWLS), as a case study. The study aims to identify and assess the factors influencing transformation around the transboundary WLS. Then evaluate the efficacy of environmental protection protocols implemented to safeguard the TBPA since land use transformation has resulted in changes taking over ecological functions and biodiversity within PAs. Recent analyses of research on satellite-based changes have revealed that the human population and concentrated anthropological land use have congregated rapidly around many PAs in the past decades. Ecologists have also realized in recent decades that the consequences of anthropological activities on the surrounding lands have penetrated the boundaries of PAs. However, human societies have always practiced nature conservation for decades by creating hunting reserves, common grounds, and sacred groves. Thus, modulating policy frameworks and delineating buffer zones based on scientific research methods negate urbanization's harmful impacts on biodiversity. It is essential to formulate a systematic methodology for regulating intense land-use modification unsuitable around TBPA. Further, forming a TBPA committee will assist in dealing with issues arising from the surrounding administrative divisions that will deal with implementing rules and regulations to harmonize the development of TBPA. Interestingly, India consists of many TBPAs, and they do flounder with similar issues that threaten biodiversity. It becomes increasingly critical to undertake necessary actions to conserve biodiversity and harmonize the development around the biodiversity hubs' without compromising ecological integrity.