6 August, 2010

Tourists coming into the country will now have the chance to live in the wild, amid hundreds of species of animals, birds and plants.

Diversifying tourism products, Bhutan’s 10 “protected” areas will now be opened for tourists, an outcome of a memorandum of understanding signed between the tourism council of Bhutan (TCB) and the ministry of agriculture and forests (MoAF).

Protected areas make up 51.44 percent of the country.

The agriculture minister, Lyonpo (Dr) Pema Gyamtsho said that, if tourists were not allowed to visit parks and protected areas, the purpose of having them is not served. “That’s because they shouldn’t only serve for conserving the flora and fauna species, but also serve as a world heritage for the international communities to enjoy the beauty,” he said.

The five national parks, four wildlife sancturies and a strict nature reserve that make up the protected areas in the country are also opened to ensure that local communities get some share of tourism benefits. “We would want to move away from concentrating the benefits to just the tour operators, and their agents,” the minister said. Since all parks and protected areas are managed through donor funds, conservationists said that opening them to tourists would generate some revenue for operation, maintenance and sustainability of the protected areas.

Dr Karma Tshering with the nature recreation and ecotourism division said that conservation has to be incentive based. “We call it the integrated conservation and development program, because we have people living inside the protected areas,” he said. “Besides the ecological benefits of conservation, people also want some tangible benefits. So we have to have programs that benefit both conservation and the people.”

Citing an example of Nabji-Korphu at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck national park, he said that ecotourism practices inculcate a sense of motivation in the local people to protect forests and the country’s culture. “For, those are the very resources that tourists come for and that has to be the guiding principle,” he said. “It’s to win people’s support in conservation and the only way is through incentives, which we are doing through tourism.”

There are some 60,000 people, who live inside the protected areas, Dr Karma Tshering said. “But there are many, who live outside but derive resources from the park; and, with that, it would be about 20 percent of the population, who depend on the resources of the protected areas.”

Kinley Wangdi from TCB said that the joint initiative was taken to achieve their goal of diversifying tourism products. “And also to put some economical value to parks, where local communities can benefit from conservation,” he said. The initiative, said TCB officials, would also help meet the goal of bringing in a 100,000 tourists by 2013.

Today, of the total number of tourists, who visit Bhutan, he said that only about eight percent come exclusively for trekking, and about 40 percent to experience both culture and nature.

Although the parks were not open, Kinley Wangdi said that a permit system existed for those who were interested. However, the numbers are less, because the tariff system often discouraged travellers for nature tourism. “The facilities for trekking aren’t at par with facilities available in places like Thimphu,” he said.

Tour operators meanwhile are appreciating the move. Association of Bhutanese tour operators’s general secretary, Sonam Dorji said that, with 95 percent of tourists coming for cultural activities, there was a need to diversify. “Opening up would help in protecting through creation of awareness” he said.

To avoid environment degradation, tour operators and tourists would have to ensure that no exploitation of resources or the local people occur in the name of tourism.

Agriculture ministry would help develop tourism packages and identify bird watching trails, camp sites, trekking routes, train people to guide through the parks and help the locals to arrange home stays and produce local products.

Lyonpo (Dr) Pema Gyamtsho said that conflicts could arise in the process of transporting camping equipments and when horses graze on the pasturelands of the communities. “So far, the local community aren’t getting any compensation and we have to ensure that the communities share the benefits as well,” he said. “The parks would also have to manage solid waste and we have to ensure that poaching and smuggling doesn’t take place through tourism.”

Courtesy: Sonam Pelden