In the last two decades, there has been a distinct shift in tourism trends from the mass beach tourism that characterised the 1970s and ‘80s, to more specialised and diverse tourism. With increased public awareness and concern for the environment, there has also developed a corresponding growth in popularity of travel to sites of natural interest. Nature and wildlife tourism now account for 7 per cent of all tourism, and are the fastest growing segments of the industry.

Though Europe with its predominantly post-industrial landscape continues to dominate world tourism in terms of tourist arrivals, the trend is gradually shifting to areas such as Southeast Asia, tropical America and other developing countries that still contain large tracts of unspoiled wilderness.

Many developing countries have been making efforts to promote nature tourism, often perceived as a "smokeless industry" that could raise foreign exchange earnings, GDP and increase employment.

In Kenya, for instance, tourism is the largest earner of foreign exchange, and contributes as much as US $ 500 million annually.

It is estimated that in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, each lion is worth US$ 27,000 a year, and a herd of elephants, US $ 610,000, merely for viewing.

The development of tourism in Protected Areas (PAs) in India has been a subject of much speculation and debate. While one school of thought strongly advocates tourism-development, seeing it as a good incentive for conservation, another opposes any sort of activity (including tourism) in PAs, fearing irreversible impacts on the ecosystem and resident communities.

Over the last few decades, the Government of India (GOI) has made great efforts towards promoting the tourism infrastructure. The industry has since become the largest foreign exchange earner after gems and jewellery, and garments.

In response to the growing interest in nature travel, moreover, attempts have also been made by both the government and private companies to diversify the tourism product. Wildlife tourism has found a niche in the Indian tourism market. India possesses a total of 521 National Parks and Sanctuaries, representing the biological diversity of most of the country’s biogeographical zones. More than 85 per cent of them are open to tourists. Tourism, with the revenue it generates, often serves as a good incentive to protect areas of rich biodiversity.

Unfortunately, it often happens that tourism, contrary to what is hoped, appears to do more harm for the PA than good. Tourism development can, and indeed has, put tremendous
pressure on local resources, environment and resident people. Impacts on key habitats and soils, pollution and depletion of water courses, denudation of forests from the fuelwood pressure, solid waste disposal and sanitation related problems are some of the many adverse consequences of unregulated tourism, all too prevalent in the majority of PAs frequented by tourists.

The powerful movement by Adivasi (tribal) groups against the proposed establishment in Nagarhole National Park, of a hotel by a prominent Indian hotel chain, reflects another aspect of tourism development, the people-parks interface. Tourism operations in protected areas, when carried out without considering the implications on local people (who more often than not, depend on the resources of the PA), have provoked several instances of conflict between local communities on one hand and park authorities and visitors on the other, over the control and use of natural resources.

Nagarhole, located between Kodagu and Mysore in Karnataka, was declared a National Park (NP) in 1972. As a result, local communities (Adivasis, who had lived there for generations) were displaced since human habitation was now allowed, as was the use of the park’s resources. Ironically though,the GOI approved of a proposal to develop nature tourism in the region, and subsequently permitted the Taj Group of Hotels to run lodges in the park for visitors. This obvious contradiction in the government’s policies has ignited a powerful movement against the ‘ecodevelopment’ programme. The adivasis, supported by many individuals and groups, have begun to claim their rights over the land that has always been a source of livelihood for them.

Ecotourism Vs ‘Nature Tourism’

The concept of ‘ecotourism’- an alternative, sustainable and responsible form of tourism -emerged in the 1980s as a logical corollary to the paradigm of sustainable development, and in an attempt to provide solutions to some of the dilemmas associated with nature tourism. It is based on the assumption that nature tourism, far from being detrimental to the area, is in fact capable of substantially benefitting the environment and local communities in various ways – with the revenue it brings, jobs it creates, and awareness it generates.

Fundamental to the concept is the belief that tourism development should be carried out in a participatory manner, and should ensure the active socio-economic involvement of local people. Numerous examples the world over suggest that tangible benefits from the tourism industry serve as good incentives for local communities to conserve the environment on which the industry is based.

The South African example, for instance, illustrates how tourism, once viewed as a symbol of racial discrimination, has been transformed into an important tool to physical environment and provides local people with sustainable livelihood options.

When compared to international examples, one of the fundamental drawbacks in the Indian scenario emerges as being the absence of a stringent and comprehensive legal mechanism to regulate the tourism industry. Although the draft National Tourism Policy (1997) speaks of "..maintaining a judicious balance between conservation and development", addresses social and environmental impacts and also suggests guidelines for sustainable growth, there is no legislation to ensure adherence.

Creating Awareness

This is coupled with a considerable dearth of infrastructure , expertise and resources to develop and implement management measures for tourism. Tools that serve to inform and educate visitors, such as orientation centres, literature on the PA, audio-visual programmes and trained guides are indispensable in terms of creating a sense of environmental responsibility and awareness. However, the last comprehensive survey conducted in PAs in India revealed that only 50 per cent of NPs and 31 per cent of sanctuaries responded, reporting the existence of management plans. Leave alone provisions to regulate tourism, only 24 per cent of NPs and 9 per cent of sanctuaries reported the availability of trained guides.

Moreover, in contrast to some African countries for example, revenue earned in India through tourism in PAs (a potential source of substantial and regular income) rarely gets recycled into the management of the PA or to generate economic benefits for the local people. Rather, the profits go either to the government exchequer as forest revenue, or to private entrepreneurs such as tour operators and lodge owners.

Legislative Measures

In India, in particular, the absence of a rigorous legal framework has left the task of regulation either to the companies themselves, as a result of which most initiatives towards sustainable tourism development in the sector have become relatively arbitrary. Trends among private companies, who advertise their operations as ‘ecotourism’, reflect a predominance of token initiatives to palliate a few visible symptoms rather than an attempt to address some of the more important issues raised by the concept.

The importance of formulating comprehensive legislation for the industry has been frequently emphasised, as a measure to ensure that all forms of private tourism companies comply with prescribed guidelines, to facilitate environmental protection, resource conservation and to safeguard the interests of the local people and consumers. Legislation could also facilitate a process by which a specific proportion of profits made by businesses gets channeled into local conservation efforts or towards providing local people with sustainable livelihood options.

Non Government Organisations (NGOs) working towards sustainable development can play a decisive role in defining and directing the growth of tourism.

In India, some of the most comprehensive ecotourism programmes have been initiated by NGOs. The fundamental differences between the approaches NGOs and the private sector probably lies in the fact that while businesses sometimes tend to use their environmental claims to promote tourism, the goals of NGOs are often facilitated with tourism as a means.

India has much to learn from the examples of ecotourism that exist, notably in South Africa, where a constructive balance is beginning to be attained between the environment, local human habitations and visiting tourists - with tourism establishments playing a beneficial albeit commercial role. Towards the achievement of such a balance, the regulatory mechanism of the state, actively monitored by NGOs, in which local people have a stake must provide the answer. q

Divya Gandhi