Bannerghatta National Park (BNP):
- Location:
- Bannerghatta National Park is located near Bangalore, Karnataka in the hills of the Anekal range.
- The park is part of a wildlife corridor for elephants which connects the BR Hills and the Sathyamangalam forest. The park is contiguous with Talli reserve forest in the southeast and Bilikal forest in the south.
- Recognition:
- It was declared as a National Park in 1974.
- In 2002 a portion of the park, became a biological reserve, the Bannerghatta Biological Park. It is the first biological park in India to have a fenced forested elephant sanctuary.
- In 2006, India's first butterfly enclosure was inaugurated at the park.
Recent decision:
- In the 33rd ESZ Expert Committee meeting of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) held on February 28, members recommended finalisation after ‘detailed deliberations’ of the November 5 draft notification which declared an ESZ area of 169 sq.km. around BNP.
- This represents a 37% reduction from the first draft notification issued in 2016 which had marked an ESZ area of 268.9 sq.km.
- The new ESZ will range from 100 metres (towards Bengaluru) to 1 kilometre (in Ramanagaram district) from the periphery of the protected area.
- Final notification expected in four months.
