The Need for Sustainable Tourism & Eco-Tourism Initiatives in India

Amitesh Gautam

Travelling holds a different meaning for different individuals. Some check-in to exotic retreats, some like to stay in the comfort of their presidential suites and the rest satiate their wanderlust by taking ‘off the beaten tracks’ with continuous assistance form Google Maps and travel portals in one hand and snickers and packet of chips in the other, to decompress from the stress and tension they succumb to every day. And at someplace somewhere in their attempt to rejuvenate themselves, travellers end up exerting more strain and pressure on the ecosystem they checked-in, wandered to and uploaded Instagram bangers of.
There is nothing wrong in having a can of soda or a bar of chocolate, and the problem only arises when that can is tossed into a river stream and the wrapper left under the shade of the tree along with a butt print. Nature by virtue of its magnanimity wouldn’t mind the butt print, but it cannot take care of cans and wrappers. They obstruct with the ecological harmony which was established after billions of years before any of us were here, and it is this harmony that has sustained us for millions of years.

Sustainability has been an integral component of the Indian culture. Its philosophy and values are the pillars of the Indian way of living. Extra emphasis is put on optimal resource utilisation, and nothing is discarded immediately after use. It is recycled, reused, refurbished or repaired and embraced as a family legacy.
This holistic approach is practised by the stakeholders of the tourism industry as well; whether it’s tourism boards of various states or diverse ethnic groups, each has adopted policies and guidelines which incorporate sustainable methodologies in day to day functioning thus easing off the load of nature’s shoulder.
Eco-tourism is a subset of sustainable tourism. Emphasis is put on experiencing and learning the workings of natural ecosystems, helping local communities make progress, appreciating indigenous cultures, and ultimately raising awareness about conservation and protection.

There are destinations in India that have raised the bar of eco-tourism and sustainable tourism practises, and have become the gold standard.

Ziro valley in Arunachal Pradesh

Sequestered in profuse pine forests and bamboo grooves, Ziro is the abode of the Apatani aboriginals. Their traditional customs and practices are crucial for maintaining a sustainable system that exists today. The tribe has, over the centuries, adapted their way of living by making the ecosystem the denominator and have perfected it to an extent where this balance feels like a live-art-form. They use every inch of agricultural land and farm produce judiciously, they do not use animals or Agri-machines for cultivation, they have coupled water-intensive rice farming with pisciculture (rearing and breeding of fish) and have a zero-tolerance towards any and all kinds of exploitation of forest and forest reserves.
Ziro Valley Music Festival, which takes place every year in September, puts a spotlight on this tribe. This is a celebration of their symbiosis with nature and their culture which reveres forests, streams, mountains and agricultural land.

The Home Stay Scheme of Himachal Pradesh

A success saga of community-based eco-tourism initiative, the programme aimed at decongesting and easing off the burden of already mainstream tourist destinations like Shimla and Manali by alluring visitors to the rural heartland profuse with a rich blend of flora and fauna, and gushing and gurgling rivers.
Kalpa and Chitkul in the Kinnaur Valley have been the front runners in reaping the benefits of this scheme (the last village on the Indo-Tibetan). They have become hot spots among tourist who want to get off the grid and experience a quieter side of Himachal.
The scheme helped curtail outbound migration as the village folk could work at home and employ others to run the day to day activities.

Responsible Tourism Mission

Undertaken by the Government of Kerala, this mission aims to “make better places for people to visit and better places for people to live in” by making tourism a tool for the development of villages and local communities, providing farmers and artisans with alternate modes of income and restoring the environmental equilibrium.
Kumarakom, a village on Vembanad Lake emerges as the cream of the crop out of all RT eco-tourism destinations in Kerala. The divine interplay of cerulean skies and emerald forests draws visitors of all shapes, sizes, colours, forms and feathers with a force of attraction greater than the strong nuclear force.
Visitors can participate in the day to day activities of village folk. The village is replete with coconut farms, and it’s ensured that not a molecule of it is wasted. The pulp is used to make coconut oil, the husky outer covering is transformed into coir and the hard-outer covering for handicrafts and soil erosion mitigation.

Mangalajodi in Orissa

It is an antiquated hamlet at the northern edge of Chilika Lake. Until 1997, this place was a repugnant den of poachers, who used everything from nets and poison to snub-nosed pistols to poach migratory birds.
It was after the herculean efforts of a local named Nanda Kishore Bhujabal that this place transformed from an avian nightmare to a birder’s paradise. The poachers of yesteryears are now the best-seasoned guides and the wetland’s impenetrable armour when the migratory season begins in October, and the marshland reverberates the symphony of twitters, chitter-chatters, hoots & voots, and caws & coos of feathered creatures.

Dooars in West Bengal

They are the gateway to Bhutan and are cradled in the ornate alluvial plains of the Brahmaputra River Basin. The Dooars are latticed with miles after miles of sal and teakwood forests, meandering rivulets and intricate imperial tea estates.
It is the flag-bearer of eco-tourism in West Bengal as it boasts of more than a dozen destinations which charm tourists of all kinds from around the globe.
Tea Tourism is a fast-growing eco-tourism concept in Dooar foothills. Colonial estates and Management retreats have been refurbished to host visitors with the ‘finest taste’.
The government’s ‘Blue Homestays’ initiative has made tea eco-tourism cost-effective and more and more budget travellers are making the most of this.
Tea tourism has helped shift the gaze towards the farm labourers who nurture and nourish tea leaves like their own children and the women whose nimble hands pluck the nascent buds with surgical precision.

Tourism, by its very nature, is resource-intensive and can strain the environment, expose traditional communities or disturb the social fabric of a place. And thus, it becomes imperative to plan and manage things beforehand.
The onus is also on travellers as they should be cognizant of the consequences of their indulgences and the ethos of sustainable travelling should be deeply embedded.

“Amitesh is an aspiring filmmaker and has an insatiable appetite for travelling to off-beat places.”

Image details and license:
https://flic.kr/p/2hKdrxH — Acorns Resort — Sunset
https://flic.kr/p/2hsjxMr — Arun Katiyar — Ziro Valley
https://flic.kr/p/cg2xjJ — Amrita Bhattacharayya — Baspa River
https://flic.kr/p/zdDZB1 — www.davidbaxendale.com — Tea Plantation
https://flic.kr/p/wrn4z — Rita Willaert — Chilika Lake
https://flic.kr/p/7s4g33 — Liji Jinaraj — Kerala Backwaters