While it is impossible to put the entire responsibility on a single entity, it is necessary to be accountable for the loopholes that have lead to India trailing on its path towards evolving the product better and simultaneously addressing the immense ecological concerns that associate with it. By Sanjeev Bhar
The national parks of India are amongst the world's well known and protected ones, but are also ill maintained, primarily in the way tourism has been introduced to these ecological marvels. Amongst the national parks, those that are also tiger reserves get the maximum exposure in terms of tourist traffic. The situation is such that there is a cold discord between the government machinery and stakeholders such as the tourism trade and the nature lovers. In reality, everyone from the travel trade to the conservationists to public officials in control of these parks, agree on one aspect: National parks need to be looked at in a holistic way to ensure their survival. The Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), Government of India, citing that fact, has deliberated on the ‘Guidelines for Ecotourism in and around Protected Areas in India', raising some potent concerns on how these areas have been massacred because of tourism activities which pose as a danger for the sustenance of these precious zones.
In India, there are more than 100 national parks with more in the proposed list, out of which 40 are tiger reserves. These national parks are important as tourism products, but the conflict arises because the role of each stakeholder has remained ambiguous over the years. “Responsible tourism is critical, there is no two ways about it," says Dilip Khatau, chairman for The Corbett Foundation and MD, Infinity Resorts - one of the first resort operators in Corbett who started way back in the 1980s. But he is also perplexed by the fact that the government has woken up so late and yet is overlooking the most important aspects that should have been concentrated upon. He says, “Stakeholders have not been involved in the process from the word go. Our system has allowed the mushrooming of tourism activities around national parks. The regions inside and outside the park are taken care of by the Forest and Revenue Departments, respectively. They have never been in sync and this has allowed such a travesty to come forth."
Ascertaining value of parks
It is understood that safeguarding our national parks and sanctuaries are critical. The tourism angle comes in later. S P Yadav, DIG, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NCTA), Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India says, “The first priority set by the ministry is the future of our national parks. Ecotourism guidelines are definitely the progressive step. We need to understand that tourism is a byproduct of good and well maintained national parks."
However, Abhishek Behl, MD and founder, Conservation Footprints is of the opinion that these parks should be treated as biodiversity tourism products, which are much undervalued in India. “One of the main reasons for this is because the valuation of a park is not done correctly. Rather than evaluating species, populations and then making the valuation, it is done on the entry fees charged. It should be according to the variety of species remaining in an area. It is sad that it is viewed on the monetary benefits."
Athul Sathe, PRO, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) views the benefits of parks in a different light, “Tourism in parks and biosphere reserves should be ecotourism in the true sense. It should not pollute, put burden on the local infrastructure and should add benefits to the local people, which only tourism can bring about. Hence, tourism is vital in parks, but the approach has to be streamlined." He also believes that there is an increase in interest in the national parks. “Slowly, the public interest has grown for wildlife through tourism and the mass media has played significant role in publicising the current state of affairs of our parks and sanctuaries, whether good or bad," he adds. Read the full report here.
Source: Express Travel World.
