Spiti opened up to the outside world in 1992 and it is only since then that tourism has set foot into the valley. Largely untouched, Spiti’s rich culture and unique landscape makes tourism a very viable livelihood option for the local community. Examples of conventional tourism in other areas showed us that while tourism provides basic income generating activities for the local populace, the chunk of the revenue usually flows out of the region as tourism and its associated activities are largely managed and controlled by outside entrepreneurs. Moreover conventional tourism usually has a negative impact on an area’s culture and environment. At Ecosphere, we felt that a planned and strategic approach would help conserve the ethos of this remote mountain region while providing a memorable experience to the traveller and generating income for the local community.

'Surreal Spiti' is an endeavour by Ecosphere to promote 'Responsible Eco-travel' in the Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh. The objective of this programme is to develop unique, authentic and reliable tourism activities, link them to community livelihoods and ensure the conservation of culture and nature. Ecosphere team has aimed to make tourism profitable for the traveller, local community, their culture and the environment.

Key activities undertaken under the ‘Surreal Spiti’ initiative:

• Awareness generation and mobilisation of the local community.

• Training of village youth in activities such as nature guiding, mountaineering, adventure sports, hospitality and other tourism related services to create a linkage of their livelihoods to the region’s natural & cultural surroundings and prevent out-migration.

• Generate equitable benefits for the larger number of beneficiaries by developing a multitude of products and activities such as homestays, yak safaris, trails (based around the wildlife, flora, culture) and other specialised products.

• Linking these products to viable markets.

• Directly linking communities to conservation work through channelling a percentage of the income generated through eco tourism by the local folks to village conservation funds.

• Sensitisation and development of adequate interpretation for visitors about the region both for an authentic experience and learning.

• Garbage management by following the principle of the 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) and developing proper waste management and disposal mechanisms.

• Development of an appropriate and contextual policy for the region to ensure adoption of responsible practices.

The Result So Far:
Homestays have been established in 6 villages (Langza, Komic, Demul, Lhalung, Dhankar and Mikkim) with the following objectives:-

• Conservation of the natural and cultural heritage.

• Linking livelihoods directly and indirectly to conservation based activities.

• Creating employment opportunities for youth and women to reduce rural to urban migration.

• Creating a distinctive, authentic, reliable, tourist accommodation and experience.

• Minimise negative impacts and maximise gains from tourism.

The homestays have diversified into a range of allied activities around the homestay villages to ensure greater visitor experience and larger equitable benefits for the village as a whole. Village youth have been trained as nature guides to create additional tourism related livelihood options. Mechanisms ensuring rotation and equal opportunities for all, have been developed for equitable benefit sharing.

To ensure sustained visitation, easy accessibility of visitors to these activities and maximum benefits to the local communities and their culture and environment, Ecosphere has now developed various trails that showcase Spiti’s culture and nature with direct and indirect linkages of the community and visitors to its conservation. For instance, a trail around the Himalayan Wolf has been developed to create a livelihood linkage of the local community with the wolf to enable a positive attitudinal shift and thereby address the issue of human-wildlife conflicts in the region.

Conservation efforts have been undertaken by the community through the formation of conservation funds which flow directly as a percentage of the revenue generated by them from community-based tourism or in kind. At the same time all the funds generated by Ecosphere from its income generation activities are ploughed back into development and conservation activities. Some of these conservation activities (proposed and executed by the community) are garbage management, preservation of the natural heritage such as fossils through formation of a fossil centre, development of fossil replicas, adoption of better grazing mechanisms, construction of green houses, promotion of renewable energy(such as solar cookers, water heaters, lighting, etc). Resolutions were passed by Panchayats (village governments) to levy fines on tourists for improper garbage disposal.

Visitor sensitisation and interpretation has been one of the key focus areas for Ecosphere. Literature to educate and sensitise the tourists about Spiti, its culture and nature has been developed and set up at various key locations as well as in homestays. An English to Spiti dictionary has also been developed to enhance visitor and host communication and experience. This dictionary has further been translated into German, French, and Italian. Ecosphere is also working on the development of a Green Guide book for Spiti which would enable tourists to make their journey to Spiti more responsible.

A key concern of the initiative has been the long-term impact of tourism on the ecology and social fabric of the region. The promotion and development of Spiti as a responsible travel destination is critical as it will not only assist in the preservation of the region’s fragile ecology and unique culture but also contribute in providing a sustainable source of income to the local populace.■

Ishita Khanna
ishita@spitiecosphere.com