Making Sustainable Ecotourism

Ecotourism cannot be separated from sustainable development. According to Swarbrooke (1998 p.56), “ecotourism can be a way to facilitate the sustainable development of economies and societies in developing countries.” To make ecotourism successful and to achieve sustainable development in Nepal, it very essential to consider its major principles and carefully linking with different issues like environmental, political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions that are also called sustainability parameters. Nepalese ecotourism policy should focus that some percents of revenue from tourism must be allocated for the purpose of conservation. But the policy has not been working as successfully as envisioned. Sustainable ecotourism should aim to increase local community involvement in the planning mechanism that can support economic development, environmental conservation, social and cultural awareness, capacity building, and effective policy implementation. Ecotourism can be a supportive tool for sustainable development in the Nepalese context, if ecotourism is diversified to link with other economic sectors such as agriculture (farming tourism), promotion of indigenous arts and crafts, cottage industries, and livestock herding.

Introduction of the Study

Tourism is very beneficial industry in various ways if it is managed carefully. It is implicit that properly managed tourism will support economic growth and uplift the standard of lifestyle and also excel other forms of development in the host communities. If we consider the history of tourism development, humans have travelled since the beginning of time when ancient people used to move from one place to another. The purposes of travel were trade, religious obligations, economic benefits, war, migration, and many others.  According to Theobald, in the Roman period, wealthy aristocrats and high government officials also travelled for pleasure (Theobald, 2005 p. 145). In this way, the origin of tourism is really very old. Stronza estimates that the history of modern travel and tourism is about a century old and that by now humans have to travel to most corners of the planet (Stronza, 2008 p. 107) and even beyond the planet, known as space tourism. Tourism has emerged as a gigantic industry which contributes an estimated 3 billion US dollars in annual revenue and about 10 percent of all employment (Honey and Rome, 2000 p.55). Furthermore, due to the rapid process of globalization and with the help of new technologies in different sectors, the figures will definitely increase in the future. According to The International Eco-tourism Society (TIES, 2002 p.89) and World Tourism Organization (WTO, 2004), by 2010 tourism will have increased to more than 1 billion international arrivals per year and is projected to increase further to 1,6 billion by 2020 (Holden, 2008, TIES, 2005) (see Figure 1.1).

Conclusion

Ecotourism is very fast growing sector in the world tourism industry. Nepalese tourism
industry also cannot stand without embracing ecotourism. Although the history of ecotourism
in Nepal is not that much long, its importance in Nepalese tourism industry is inevitable
because it can be regarded as one of the best approaches to promote sustainable development
that can be helpful to alleviate poverty by developing local economy and society and also
conserving environment. Furthermore ecotourism in Nepal can be proved as boon for rural
development, social empowerment especially for marginalized groups. Ecotourism principles
basically focus to increase local community involvement in the planning mechanism that can
support economic development, environmental conservation, social and cultural awareness,
capacity building, and effective policy implementation. At the same time it is also necessary
to consider critically that ecotourism also creates many problems such as environmental and
cultural degradation and even economic imbalance (due to inflation and leakage) in local
scenario.
Nepal is unique land of abundance of tourism resources which can only be used properly
through ecotourism. Tourism has been the main foreign income sources of the country and it
also supports the economy of the country. So ecotourism can be a promising industry in
Nepal, if Nepalese government is committed to develop integrated and innovative ecotourism
policy and planning that must address all the existing problems and challenges for better
implementation. Nepal needs effective ecotourism because whole mass tourism of the country
has been creating various adverse impacts such as environmental and social pollutions,
deforestation, and other many and they can only be checked properly if there is ecotourism
practices with holistic planning and innovative leaderships of concerned authorities.
Furthermore ecotourism in Nepal always needs more scientific studies and researches and
evaluation of ecotourism practice and scientific eco-certifications and accreditation system to
the institutions and originations involving in the field. But it seems that Nepal still practises
traditional tourism in the name of ecotourism due to massive policy deficit and various
internal problems that prevent effective application of qualitative tourism which should
emphasize for the ethical encouragement of all stakeholders including tourists, locals, and
tour operators for the promotion of genuine ecotourism. And also there is no special strategy
for conservation and tourism development.
Thus besides various challenges and problems in the fields of ecotourism, it can be a great
opportunity for Nepal if all tourism resources are handled and utilized responsibly and it can
be phenomenal instrument to achieve real sustainable development of the country by
promoting different aspects and sectors – economy, environment, culture, and conservation
procedure.

Further Research

Ecotourism, in many countries, is still a new concept. In the case of Nepal, ecotourism is in
its adolescent stage, which needs to be studied, investigated, and rigorously analyzed its
practices and overall impacts. Better research helps to get real understanding of important
information about the field. Ecotourism can only be made better in its theory into practice, if
scientific research has been done. However Nepal has lacked technical and skilled manpower
that restrains the genuine research activities in wider perspective (Carlsson, 2001). And also
the policy failed to lead such research in the country. To conduct the research, case studies of
various ecotourism sites should be prepared and qualitative and quantitative data should be
collected.

Innovative Leadership

Without active and creative leadership, ecotourism is hard to practices in developing
countries likes Nepal where there are challenging situations. Government is the main leader
that has to design strategic policies to maximize local participation and genuine involvement
of all levels. Strategy also should focus on marketing and business aspects of ecotourism in
the destinations. It should also emphasize regular monitoring and feedback systems that can
help to evaluate the situation of ecotourism and also helps to promote the real spirit of
ecotourism development. Furthermore the government has a main role to establish peace,
safety, and security that are basic requirements for promoting ecotourism in the destinations.
However, unfortunately Nepal ecotourism policy fails to deliver on these aspects. So
ecotourism is remaining just a dream in many areas where there is maximum opportunities.

Ecotourism Policy in Nepal

The tourism Ministry in Nepal is primarily responsible for tourism planning and policy and
other important tasks like licensing, regulations and overall monitoring. Another important
institution is Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) which also has a significant role in the
development of tourism in Nepal by conducting planning, research, and developing products
and marketing for sustainable tourism. The National Planning Commission (NPC) is also a
key institution which has significant influence in tourism policy formulation. The commission
has regarded tourism as a key sector for economic benefit and poverty alleviation in its five
yearly plans.
It is very implicit that tourism in Nepal is one of the main economic contributors of the
country. Therefore it should be managed scientifically through the formulation of effective
planning and policy to support sustainable development. Respecting this idea, the Eighth Five
Year Plan (1992-1997) had given main emphasis on tourism to boost the national economy
by maximizing foreign exchange earnings and the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) also
envisaged the policy and implementation strategy for establishing Nepal as a ‘premium
tourist destination of the world’ with introduction of ecotourism including the strategy of
developing village tourism, new trekking sites and other required tourism infrastructure
(NPC, 2003; MOPE, 2004). Furthermore the plan also gave stress to review of tourism
policies, related regulations, institutional arrangements and coordination, and overall
assessment of tourism impacts (ibid).
Also acknowledging the negative impacts of tourism, government of Nepal has also
developed a strategy to promote ecotourism and introduced a legislation of Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) in the industry. But the Ninth Plan states that tourism policy
development and implementation is not as easy as it is envisioned in the plan. Thus, Banskota
and et al. (1995) say that the tourism policy and institutional framework is not effective and
the consequence of this brings lack of coordination of supply and demand in which private
sectors of tourism generally aim to earn much more income than on the conservation side
(Banskota and et al, 1995). Lack of policy implementation, especially in the case of
ecotourism in Nepal, creates major problems in the whole industry as well as in other sectors.

Basantapur and Adjoining Areas

Basantapur and Adjoining Areas: Being very rich in cultural items and different ethnic
groups with 21 different languages and variety of religious and cultural events, the area is
also very rich with natural and biological diversity. The area is also famous for its
surrounding sites which have immense potential for ecotourism development.

6.3 Dhanusha Dham and Adjoining Areas: The areas lie in the eastern lowlands of the
country. The area is very popular and of religious significance because the place is believed to
be the birth place of Sita, wife of Lord Rama, according to Hindu mythology. And the area
also contains the very famous Janaki Temple, which is well-known as religious destination
for all Hindu people. Dhanusha Dham areas have maximum potential for both cultural and
village tourism which will promote Maithali culture and community (MOPE, 2004). Around
the area there are many potential ecotourism sites. These include the Dhanusha Forest and
the Ram Janaki temple and other many temples of various Hindu gods and goddess.

6.4 Tansen and Adjoining Areas: Tansen, a beautiful place, has many promising tourism
resources, and lies in the middle part of the country. There are various cultural and religious
events and festivals that make the place attractive as an ecotourism site. The area has potential
for ecotourism activities like boating, rafting, camping, rock climbing, bird watching, and
many more (MOPE, 2004).

6.5 Khaptad National Park and Adjoining Areas: This area is the far-western part of
Nepal. It is in a remote region having complex geo-physics and unique ecosystems with rich
flora and fauna. The place has religious and spiritual significance. Although the park has
minimal tourists’ facilities, the place is full of potential tourist activities such as camping,
village walks, cultural visits, rafting, bird watching, skiing, horse riding, trekking, historical
tours etc. Many sites around the park can be developed as ecotourism sites.

6.6 Chitwan and Adjoining Areas: Chitwan, most popular tourist destination, lies in the
central plain part of the country that is linked with all kinds of transport system. Owing to the
park the place has various opportunities for ecotourism development like village tourism,
nature tourism, canoeing, cultural tourism, wildlife watching, jungle safari, elephant ride etc.
Like other areas, it has also potential ecotourism sites around it.