Eco-Tourism – linking livelihoods to conservation

Spiti’s rich culture and unique landscape makes tourism a very viable livelihood option for the local community. However from examples of conventional tourism in other areas it has been found 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.

In Spiti, Ecosphere’s interventions make tourism profitable for the community, its culture and ecology. The endeavour aims to promote responsible eco-travel in the Spiti valley. The objective of the initiative is to develop unique, authentic and reliable tourism products and activities, link them to community livelihoods and conservation of culture & nature. This not only provides the community with a sustainable source of income but also serves as an incentive to conserve their unique natural & cultural heritage and environment.

In order to achieve this, various products and activities have been carefully planned and designed to ensure economic benefits to the locals and linkages to conservation on the one hand along with enhanced and rewarding visitor experiences on the other.

The activities undertaken have encompassed:-

• Awareness generation and mobilisation of the local community.
• Training of village youth in activities such as nature guiding and other tourism related services to create a linkage of their livelihoods to the regions natural & cultural surroundings and prevent out-migration.
• Generate equitable benefits for larger number of beneficiaries by developing a multitude of products and activities such as homestays, yak safaris, trails (based around the wildlife, flora, culture, etc.) and other specialised products.
• Linking these products to viable markets.
• Directly linking communities to conservation activities through channeling a percentage of their incomes generated to village conservation funds.
• Sensitisation and development of adequate interpretation for visitors about the region both for an authentic experience and learning.
• Development of an appropriate and contextual policy for the region to ensure adoption of responsible practices.

The promotion and development of Spiti as a responsible travel destination is critical as it will not only assist in the preservation of the areas fragile ecology and unique culture but also contribute in providing a sustainable source of income to the local populace.

A key concern of the initiative was the long term impact of tourism on the ecology and social fabric of the region. It was felt that a planned and strategic approach could help conserve the ethos of the region while providing a memorable experience to the traveler and generating income for the local community.

The Results so far have been:

One of the initial attempts undertaken for the realisation of the objectives for promoting responsible eco-travel in Spiti was the development of homestays (www.himalayan-homestays.com/spiti) as an alternate accommodation option for the visitors. Homestays have been established in 6 villages (Langza, Komic, Demul, Lhalung, Dhankar and Mikkim) with the following objectives:-

• Conservation of natural & cultural heritage
• Linking livelihoods directly and indirectly to conservation based activities
• Creating employment opportunities for youth and women to reduce rural to urban igration
• Creating a distinctive, authentic, reliable, tourist accommodation and experience.

The homestays soon 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 were 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. As a consequence, in the first year itself over 50 households in 5 villages had benefited from community based tourism. Currently over 80 families are beneficiaries from the activities being undertaken as part of the initiative. To ensure sustained visitation, easy accessibility of visitors to these activities and maximum benefits to the local communities, 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 (one of the critically endangered species of wolves in the world) 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. Some of the conservation activities proposed and executed by the community are garbage management, preservation of the natural heritage such as fossils through formation of a fossil center, adoption of better grazing mechanisms. Resolutions were passed by Panchayats (village governments) to prevent sale and purchase of natural and cultural artifacts by imposing fines. It was also decided to levy fines on tourist for improper garbage disposal along with camping and grazing charges for donkeys/ horses brought in from out of Spiti. This enables the community to purchase fodder in the event of their being a shortage. The income generated is also being further utilized for the promotion of responsible tourism and conservation related activities in the villages.

Visitor sensitisation and interpretation has been one of the key focus areas for Ecosphere. Literature to educate and sensitize the tourists about Spiti, its culture and nature have been developed and set up at various key locations as well as in homestays. A English to Spiti dictionary has also been developed to enhance visitor and host communication and experience.

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Marketing and Advertising

Marketing posed one of the major challenges for the success of the initiative. In order to promote Spiti as a responsible travel destination it was imperative to adopt a contextual policy for marketing and advertising. One of the first steps in this direction was the set up of an independent marketing platform, which was also the genesis of Ecosphere.

In the initial stages a common marketing platform was established with the partner organisations in the homestay program, which was part of a UNESCO funded project. A web site has been developed for the purpose of promoting the homestays in collaboration with SLC, Leh and ECOSS, Sikkim called www.himalayan-homestays.com, which promotes homestays in all three locations.

Marketing literature such as posters, brochures, maps, stickers, etc are in different stages of development and play a significant role in marketing the initiative and its principles.

Partnerships and liaisons with organisations, travel agents and tour operators through out India and in other countries has also been an important marketing strategy for promoting Spiti.

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