The long-delayed draft Zonal Master Plan (ZMP) for Sanjay Gandhi National Park’s (SGNP) eco-sensitive zone, released this September, presents itself as a progressive blueprint. After nine years of waiting, Mumbai finally has a plan to regulate activity in this fragile 59km buffer. At the heart of the proposal is an invitation to build “sustainable villages, lodges, wellness centres, homestays, cottages” alongside trekking, boating, and other nature-based activities. The stated aim: empower locals through ecotourism while safeguarding ecology. But as history shows, the line between empowerment and exploitation is perilously thin.

On paper, the intent is sound. SGNP is home not just to leopards, lakes, and 1,300 plant species but also to Adivasi communities who have long been excluded from formal conservation policy. Creating eco-lodges or homestays could offer them dignified........

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