NEW DELHI: The Centre has brought out a policy for eco-tourism in forest and wildlife areas, seeking to develop tourism in wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and other conservation reserves and encourage “homestead-based” hospitality enterprises in protected areas to create jobs for forest dwellers and other local people.

The eco-tourism policy formalises the ‘homestead’ concept which allows tourists to stay in jungle houses, maintained by forest dwellers, and get the experience of living in the wild while adhering to permissible activities.

Even areas outside designated protected areas such as forests, mangroves, sacred groves, mud flats, wetlands and rivers have also been brought within the ambit of the central policy for developing eco-tourism.

The policy, comprising dos and don’ts for tourists, conservators and other stakeholders, will serve as guiding principles for states and Union Territories (UTs) to identify locations and routes for visits, permissible time for visits and means of travel, keeping local circumstances in mind.

“States may develop benchmarks or standardised criteria, based on site specificity, for adoption of best practices in eco-tourism,” said the policy, formulated by the environment ministry.

Under the policy, ‪each state/UT will have to establish an ‘Eco-Tourism Development Board’ to advise their respective governments on the modalities of eco-tourism and to oversee the implementation of the policy.

Noting that “community participation” is the core of the policy, environment minister Harsh Vardhan said the policy will help in improving “livelihood of people living in and around protected areas”. He pointed out that the members of local communities can be employed as nature and tourist guides or as “nature science interpreters” and even be served as “patrol partners” to protect nature.

The policy clearly specifies provisions of earmarking “inviolate space” which will be a “no-go zone” for tourists in those areas. It also says no permanent structures (camps, camping complex with lodging or boarding structures, helipads and tourist bungalows) will be established in violation of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

On eco-tourism zone, the policy says that the demarcation of areas for tourist visits, whether within core or buffer or both, will depend upon the management requirements and will be decided based on the target species, their behavioural and habitat characteristics.

“To maintain ecological integrity, protection of breeding areas and other sensitive sites are necessary, Therefore, those should be excluded from eco-tourism activities,” says the policy.

Forest and wildlife experts welcomed the move on eco-tourism and asked for proper implementation of the policy. “Eco-tourism is the need of the time and a policy on the same to guide the sector was awaited since long. It’s good that government has laid focus on local employment generation in new policy. This will boost local economies and help halt migration of poor people out of villages,” said Ajay Kumar Saxena of the Network for Certification and Conservation of Forests.

Tito Joseph of the Wildlife Protection Society of India believes that if local people get jobs, many of them will stop taking up poaching as a profession and as a result wildlife crimes will come down. “If eco-tourism activities are properly managed, it will help protected area managers to administer the parks well,” said Joseph.

He cited example of eco-tourism in Periyar Tiger Reserve of Kerala and said, “It’s immensely beneficial to local people, especially tribal people living around tiger reserves.”

The government had earlier in 2011 brought out guidelines for eco-tourism in and around protected areas. That was, however, served more as guidelines for conservators. The new policy, on the other hand, is broad based as it covers more natural areas.

Noting that much damage had been done by private players under the garb of eco-friendly tourism as there was no policy, Saxena said, “Now, picture should change for better. Government should also ensure that strategy for management of plastic and other non-biodegradable waste is well in place in policy as natural areas are already full of such waste.”

