Community based eco-tourism...

Eco-tourism generates income & promotes conservation in Apatani Plateau

The beautiful landscape of Apatani Plateau is one of the most ideal sites for eco-tourism in Arunachal Pradesh. The fine cool climate, well conserved community forests, cluster of old villages, rich social and cultural heritage of the Apatani community and proximity to Talle valley wildlife sanctuary provides the right ingredients for community based eco-tourism and conservation .

To tap the eco-tourism potential of beautiful Apatani plateau, Future Generations Arunachal (FGA) started community based eco-tourism with the support of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in 2010.

The aim of the project is to promote responsible tourism so that it contributes to the preservation of tribal culture and conservation of the valuable pristine environment. One of the main components of the project was to diversify livelihood options by promoting home-stay in the Apatani villages. The idea was to bring the benefit of tourism directly to the community level and to give the tourists a unique experience of the Apatani eco- cultural landscape and true flavor of the way of life of the Apatanis.

FGA began the project by imparting various trainings on eco-tourism and benefits of home-stay facility. The training curriculum ranged from nature guide, trek development, packaging of local cuisine to marketing and networking with different stakeholders.

Later, six members were taken for en exposure tour to Sikkim to see the practices and mechanism of home-stay there. Soon after, two home-stay units were started in Siro village by Shri Hibu Tatu and Shri Punyo Chada. Now more home-stay units have been started in Tajang, Hija and Hong villages also. Home-stay units are now receiving tourist and hosted many guest from overseas also.

Further to oversee the whole initiative of eco-tourism FGA supported in formation of an apex community based institution called Ngunu Ziro. Now, the home-stay and allied activities are overseen and coordinated by Ngunu Ziro. It networks with tour operators, government agencies, expert organizations et al for promotion of the home-stay units.

To maintain equity in the flow of benefits of the home-stay initiative, Ngunu Ziro maintains a roster for allocation of visitors to the home-stay units. This ensures that there is cooperation rather than competition among the home-stay units.

The multiplier effect of the home-stay initiative also flows to the other community members. The local women of the villages has been organized into Self Help Groups

(SHGs). These groups are encouraged and supported to take up various activities like weaving, fish farming and kitchen garden.

Food items such as vegetable, rice, fruit, meat, fish handicrafts are provided by the SHGs to the home-stay units. Not only that, cultural programme such as folk dance and songs are presented by the local artist and villages women. The local youth are employed as nature guide or tour guide for trekking and sightseeing thereby providing meaningful employment to them.

The eco-tourism project of FGA has remarkably increased the sense of ownership of the local community members in protecting and conserving pristine local environment of the Apatani Plateau. They are increasingly realizing that development and conservation is not mutually exclusive.

Many tourists who visited Ziro and stayed in the home-stay facility have nice things to say about it. Mr. Navraj Pradhan, a visitor from International Center for Integrated Mountain Development , who stayed at Ziro said, , “It has certainly been a wonderful experience staying at a home stay facility, and the efforts in initiating, training and supporting these families by FGA and ATREE are visionary steps in promoting eco-tourism”. Gerry Marten of Wildlife Research of Bangalore said, “This was an amazing experience for me. Thanks for all your help and hospitality. all the best in all your endeavours. I will be back.’ Yet another visitor from Netherlands, Ms. Frida Duetiker said, “Very friendly-good and clean rooms and hospitality”.

Mr. Nalong Mize, Executive Director, FGA, feels that this model of home-stay initiative can be replicated even in other parts of Arunachal Pradesh with the support and partnership of Central and State Government. A Public Private Partnership (PPP) model can be developed where government can provide the infrastructure and financial support for training capacity building of the community, organizations/ institution like FGA can come in with training, exposure and facilitation and the community members come in with entrepreneurship. This will not only bring the benefits of tourism directly to the community level but will also lead to a more sustainable economic development for Arunachal Pradesh.

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