THENMALA ECOTOURISM
"Thenmala Ecotourism" is the first
planned ecotourism destination in India. Thenmala is a small
village at the foothills of the Western Ghat Mountains and
predominantly a forest area with a lot of human interventions
at the periphery.
Tourism Department, Government of Kerala,
India has taken steps to give focussed attention to ecotourism
in the State. A separate ecotourism wing has been created
to give policy support for the development of the ecotourism
destinations in the State. Accordingly a project for the first
planned ecotourism destination (Thenmala Ecotourism Project)
has been formulated in and around Shenduruney Wildlife Sanctuary
with the co-operation of departments such as Forest, Irrigation
and Tourism. In order to give flexibility in management for
the development of this destination, a separate Society, the
Thenmala Ecotourism Promotion Society (TEPS) has been constituted.
When the idea of developing Thenmala as
a tourism destination was mooted seriously in 1996, it was
decided to develop it as an ecotourism destination by keeping
the degraded forest area, in the outskirts of the Sanctuary,
as a familiarization zone. The studies and discussions followed
helped to evolve a strategy to control the mass tourism within
the outer limits of the Sanctuary. Hence the ecotourism products,
which are developed within Sanctuary, are expected to be supply
driven, which eventually takes care of ecological sustainability.
It was also planned to have satellite centers in various places
in Western Ghats mountainous region within a radius of 50
km from Thenmala. The familiarisation zones thus created function
as area for soft ecotourists.
Eco-friendly General Tourism is planned in
the periphery of the sanctuary so that pressure of tourism
will not affect sanctuary. The real ecotourism is to take
place in sanctuary and only ecotourists are encouraged for
that. Others can experience the ecofriendly products such
as small nature trails, elevated walkway through canopies,
mountain biking etc. This will give them a feeling of what
awaits as ecotourism in the sanctuary area, for which they
have to wait since it is supply driven. This was a consciously
developed management strategy after analysing what is happening
in various sanctuaries by way of tourist pressure.
Facilities such as boating in the Sanctuary
reservoir, boardwalk, sculpture garden, amphitheatre, Musical
Dancing Fountain, etc. are also provided at Thenmala for soft
ecotourists. An Environmental education and interpretation
center is also being set up at Thenmala.
Thenmala Ecotourism Promotion Society adopted
a strategy to co-ordinate with Forest Department, the Irrigation
Department and Tourism Department and implement various activities
in association with each Department.
Private initiative is expected in areas such
as providing accommodation, transportation facility etc. No
permanent constructions are made in forest areas. Accommodations
for tourists are developed outside the forests, at a distance.
To make this project a great success Thenmala
Ecotourism Promotion Society (TEPS) entrusted the conduct
of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to Kerala Forest
Research Institute (KFRI). KFRI had conducted EIA for the
destination and the satellite spots. Further, on the recommendations
of KFRI and on the basis of the Environmental Impact Assessment,
TEPS amended the activities so as to minimise the negative
impacts of the project.
The products such as trekking, bird watching
trails etc. is being developed and operationalised through
the institution of Eco-development Committees / Participatory
Forest Management Committees (locally known as Vana Samrakshna
Samithi (VSS)), thereby ensuring local benefits from ecotourism.
Forest Department has already evolved expertise in the formulation
of Eco-development Committees and VSS through institutionalised
means. This will help in channelising the benefits of ecotourism
to the local people, which will ultimately elicit support
of local community for forest protection and conservation.
Thenmala ecotourism project is the first
planned ecotourism project/destination in the country. In
many other cases it was just renaming of an already existing
"nature tourism". Here from the very beginning efforts
have been taken to imbibe the internationally accepted principles
of ecotourism in the planning process as well as in implementation.
A conscious management strategy has been evolved to create
a familiarization zone to limit the impacts in sensitive ecosystems
to the minimum. Another important feature is the institutionalizing
of co-ordination mechanism among Forests, Irrigation and Tourism
Departments, Local Community, Local Self Government and other
stake holders.
In short "Thenmala ecotourism"
is a learning experience. Our idea is to make this destination
qualitatively better by getting valuable feedback from all
esteemed visitors and there by strive for excellence in the
area of conservation of natural resources and authentic tourism
experience.
|
