By Wendy Lama
Two examples of successful three-way partnerships that support community-based sustainable tourism are described briefly below.
- Kangchendzonga Conservation Committee (KCC), Sikkim, India: KCC is a community-based organization (CBO) based in Yuksom, trekking trailhead to Kangchendzonga National Park, Sikkim. Established in the mid 1990s by local youth, it provides training to porters and educates visitors in responsible tourism, collects and recycles garbage (Zero Waste Himalaya), promotes use of non-wood fuels and biodiversity conservation actions, espouses participatory planning for sustainable livelihoods, and advocates state and national sustainable tourism policies and programs (e.g.,state-wide plastic bag ban). Its effectiveness is in part due to its long-term relationships with, among others:
- International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) including The Mountain Institute, Snow Leopard Conservancy-India Trust, UNDP, Singapore Management University, JICA;
- District and state level agencies throughout India, national park, wildlife and forestry departments of Sikkim and greater India;
- Other CBOs and local NGOs including Royal Society for the Protection of Nature, Mountain Spirit – Nepal, Ecotourism Development Committees of Sikkim;
- Private sector tourism organizations and operators including The Ecotourism Society, KarmaQuest Ecotourism and Adventure Travel, Himalayan Homestays, and trekking and tour operators and associations of Sikkim.
- Snow Leopard Conservancy-India Trust: SLC-IT evolved out of the US-based Snow Leopard Conservancy’s, The Mountain Institute’s, and UNESCO’s involvement in a snow leopard conservation and community-based ecotourism project in Ladakh, India in the late 1990s to mid-2000s. It provides a successful example of leveraging wildlife conservation actions through equitably shared benefits of homestay tourism. Once despised as livestock predators, the snow leopard is now protected by highland herders for bringing significant tourism revenue to remote mountain villages of Hemis National Park in Ladakh. Key partnership relationships and actions include:
- Jammu-Kashmir State Forest Department now restricts the number of tourists who can enter the national park to see snow leopards during winter, protecting the cats from disturbances as the popularity of snow leopard viewing tourism has grown;
- Leh-based and international tour operators donate equipment and funds for snow leopard research and conservation;
- CBOs and beneficiaries in the Park help monitor snow leopard movements, protect its prey species and manage livestock to minimize conflicts with snow leopard conservation.
- Village homestay operators place visitors in homes on a rotation basis to distribute income earning opportunities, regulate charges, maintain service standards and promote youth and women’s participation in nature and cultural conservation and small enterprise development.
Originally published on AdventureEDU Blog with the permission of ATTA
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