AbstractBuffer zones can play important roles in agricultural habitats, both in the protection of off‐crop habitats from pesticide and fertiliser drift and run‐off, and in providing important areas of non‐crop habitats. Their role in the protection of aquatic habitats from pesticide drift is a significant feature of pesticide risk management, but they are currently used only to a limited degree to protect terrestrial habitats. This paper summarises some of the evidence for the risks and impacts of pesticide drift into non‐crop habitats, and the approaches taken by the nature conservation agencies in deriving buffer zones for the protection of sites that are important for nature conservation. Biodiversity objectives need to be explicitly built into ICM programmes, and buffer zones, together with appropriate application technology, can play an important part in reducing pesticide drift in ICM systems to achieve such objectives. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry