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Sikkim Biodiversity and Ecotourism Project
Overview I Project
Area I Components I Accomplishments
Success Stories I Challenges
Nestled in the Eastern Himalaya, the state of Sikkim in India is home
to immense biological diversity and a rich cultural heritage. The Sikkim
Biodiversity and Ecotourism Project was a collaborative initiative
designed to help conserve Sikkim's natural resources and to develop
economic livelihood
opportunities, including ecotourism. At the heart of the project were
innovative participatory approaches that strengthen the capacities
of local residents
and organizations to link enterprise operation with actions to conserve
Sikkim's unique natural and cultural heritage.
Overview For centuries people have been drawn to Sikkim with
stories of Shangri-La and hidden valleys near Khangchendzonga, the
world's third highest
peak (8,586m), and a mountain held sacred by the region's inhabitants.
Today
both international and domestic tourists are attracted to the rich
natural and cultural heritage of Sikkim, a small (pop. 500,000)
Himalayan state.
With nearly 100,000 visitors in 1996, including 10,000 from outside
India, tourism is an important economic activity for Sikkimese
people. Ecotourism,
with its focus on environmentally sound practices and generating
widespread economic incentives to conserve, offers a timely opportunity
for Sikkim
to improve livelihoods and to protect its unique heritage.
Working
with communities, the private sector and government, the Sikkim Biodiversity
and Ecotourism Project built upon their skills,
interests
and knowledge, to:
- Increase community and private sector conservation;
- Increase economic returns from ecotourism services and enterprises;
and
- Contribute to policies that meet ecotourism and conservation
goals.
The project was a joint effort of The Mountain Institute and
the G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development. Project
collaborators included the Travel Agents Association of Sikkim (TAAS),
and local
organizations, and communities at the sites.
Project
Area return to top Khangchendzonga National Park and communities
in surrounding areas in West Sikkim were the focus of the project.
Within the Park is
Sikkim's major
trekking route, the Yuksam-Dzongri-Goechha La Trail --
an exhilarating climb with dense forests and past spectacular mountain
views.
The forests and
alpine meadows are some of the most biologically diverse
in India, and contain over 30 species of rhododendrons,
400
species
of
orchids and many other
flowering plants. The Park and surrounding areas also
contain a large proportion of the 144 mammals, 300 plus birds,
and 400 and more
butterfly
species recorded
in Sikkim alone. The spiritual and physical focus of the
area is Mount Khangchendzonga, revered as the protective deity of Sikkim.
At the trail
head is Sikkim's first capital, Yuksam. From Yuksam,
visitors can take short
walks
to several archeological ruins and to Dubdi, Sikkim's
oldest monastery. A
number of
different ethnic groups, including Lepchas, Bhutias
and Nepalis,
as well as Tibetan refugees, live in this culturally
and historically rich
area.
Most pursue traditional agricultural livelihoods, while
some have added tourism in recent years. Other current
project sites include
Khecheopalri Lake, one of Sikkim's most sacred and
pristine lakes and Pelling,
a
settlement near Pemayangtse Monastery. Components return
to top Increase community and private sector biodiversity
conservation initiatives. Activities include:
- Community ecotourism plans covering site-enhancement,
trail and site maintenance, natural resource management
and monitoring, and conservation
education;
- Supporting fuelwood reduction measures
by trek operators and local lodges; and
- Supporting local
NGOs working in ecotourism and conservation.
Increase economic
returns from community-level and private sector enterprises.
Activities include:
- Training in ecotourism services, e.g.,
for guides, lodge-owners, cooks, porters;
- Supporting
new community ecotourism enterprises - vegetable growing,
indigenous foods, fuelwood-saving equipment hire
for treks, short guided treks;
- Developing marketing strategies for community-based
and travel agent ecotourism activities; and
- Conducting
market research and developing new ecotourism products,
e.g., off-season activities.
Improve and contribute to
policy-making in conservation and ecotourism. Activities
include:
- Scientific and participatory monitoring of project activities
and impacts;
- Applied research in conservation and ecotourism;
- Sharing
of research and monitoring findings among policy-makers,
communities and the private sector; and
- Promoting public-private
sector dialogue through workshops, exchanges and policy
review.
Project staff and collaborators have
conducted training for over 200 lodge
operators, naturalist
and trekking
guides, trek cooks,
vegetable growers and porters. Lodge
operators have recorded increased revenue
and
are actively
using alternative heating and cooking
devices
that are more
energy efficient, than firewood.
Using an innovative participatory planning
and action methodology that focuses on
community assets, over
200 people in four
communities at
the project sites have developed and
are implementing local ecotourism plans
that include activities which are co-financed
by community members. Under these plans
local people have improved
garbage management,
carried out tree
plantations in local settlements, prepared
and
distributed visitor education and promotional
materials,
and
conducted trail repairs.
Two highly successful study/exchange
tours were undertaken by villagers and
travel agents
to
neighboring Nepal.
Sikkimese villagers
worked
with local residents in a TMI ecotourism
project in the Helambu region to learn
about tourism development and conservation.
All made commitments to share the learning
and carry
out conservation
activities
most of which
have been
fulfilled. TAAS members held a workshop
with the Trekking Agents Association
of Nepal and
among other results
signed a Memorandum
of Understanding
to cooperate in marketing, conservation
and ecotourism training.
As part of the
applied research and monitoring component of the project,
GBPIHED began
intensive field monitoring
of potential
project impacts.
Additionally, community ecotourism plans
using participatory methods are providing
useful
information for participants on the status
and management of natural resources,
as well as project
approaches
that required modification,
e.g. design of
study tours in order to maximize the
benefits for all community members.
Efforts
to promote constructive policy dialogue between government,
the private
sector and
local communities gathered momentum
this year. The Government
of Sikkim (GoS) adopted the project model
of participatory workshops to discuss
major tourism
development
proposals,
and participated
in a project
sponsored gathering of stakeholders to
discuss conservation and ecotourism management
issues
in and around Khangchendzonga
National
Park - the
site of the major trekking route in Sikkim.
Accomplishments return
to top
- A Code of Conduct for
Ecotourism developed at a workshop enabled the Travel Agents
Association to obtain increased
supplies of fuelwood alternatives, and provides the basis of an ecotourism
marketing strategy.
- Over 200 community members in four key settlements
prepared ecotourism plans and carried out village and
trail clean-ups, tree-planting, fuelwood substitution. In Yuksam community
members
formed a
local organization
to develop positive conservation and enterprise
linkages.
- Over 400 people have participated in training courses
to increase their capacity to generate income from
ecotourism related enterprises.
- Project participants and local researchers
prepared and are implementing a comprehensive project
monitoring and research plan that assesses tourism impacts
and informs tourism and conservation
policies.
- A series of innovative participatory workshops and meetings
have increased the level of public and private sector
dialogue and action on tourism and conservation issues.
Success
Stories return
to top
Some of the success stories recorded by participants
are given below, and we hope that they convey to readers
the
positive changes seen:
" Through the project I have been able to enhance my own capacity and learn
techniques of data collection. After attending trainings I have learnt
many things and in dealing with the community I have earned more respect from
them"
-- Kinzong Bhutia - SBE Community
Assistant
"
One of the greatest successes of the SBE project I feel is that it
has involved local people from the grass-root level and given importance
to
their participation which has made people take pride and they will
cherish the fruits of this in the future".
-- Pema Gyaltsin - School
teacher, Yuksam
"
The project has empowered local people to a great extent to take part
in community initiatives and has set a trend to take actions instead of
only talking. Examples are the Kathok Lake clean-up, road to Norbugang and
Forest Guest House clean-up, getting benches for Norbugang, Dubdi Monastery,
Kathok Lake and the Trekkers's Huts".
-- Chewang Bhutia, Engineer
" Another significant change in Yuksam is the operation of the lodge operators.
They have become much better in their service and entire operations
after trainings"
-- Sherab Bhutia, Social Worker
" The best thing about the KNP workshop
was the involvement of the people from different sectors
and backgrounds taking part in the biodiversity
and management issues of KNP, and the methodology of the facilitators
to get input and participation from all the participants."
-- K.N.
Bhutia, Additional Secretary, Department of Tourism (GoS)
" The best thing about the KNP workshop was that it was for the first time
that the government departments felt it relevant to discuss and
talk with the community stakeholders on National Park conservation and management
issues and come out with positive recommendations"
-- Pema Bhutia General
Secretary, Khangchendzonga Conservation Committee, Yuksam.
" In future all concerned planning for conservation in KNP should come
out through one platform with active participation from different
stakeholders"
-- Gut Lepcha, Field Director, Khangchendzonga
National Park.
Challenges return
to top
A major success story was the
emergence of a community based non-government organization,
the Khanchendzonga
Conservation Committee (KCC),
also presents a significant challenge to the project -- how
to support this organization
in its efforts to play a positive role in conservation and
development? This question highlights a key issue in
the project -- how to
institutionalize activities and processes introduced by the project so
that
they
are
sustainable in the long-term? Local organizations and institutions
present one promising
avenue, but require initial investment in capacity building
to manage themselves and their activities.
We faced
a challenge and an opportunity to hand over activities
to local groups who will be in a position
to continue and modify
them as necessary
in the future. As part of this process of capacity building,
KCC has already conducted training for porters and raised
a small amount
of
funds for garbage
management in Yuksam.
On a more practical level, an unusually
long monsoon highlighted the difficult conditions that
participants operate under,
in fragile mountain
environments. On several occasions staff were cut off
from sites and the capital, Gangtok due to numerous landslides.
These conditions
have
hampered project activities, affecting staff visits to
the field, as well communications.
To some extent we have overcome the communication delays
by using laptop computers in the field and recently acquired
e-mail
capabilities.
Landslides,
on the other hand, continue to test everyone's ability
to manage complex logistical arrangements and maintain
a sense of humor
under difficult
circumstances.
Authors: Nandita Jain, Program Manager with
The Mountain Institute and SBE Project Manager, worked
with TMI to help design
the
project and stayed
on to manage it. Comments from the field were collected
by Renzino Lepcha, Project Officer, who managed one of Sikkim's
largest tour operators before
joining the project, and from evaluations completed by
participants
at the KNP workshop.
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