Can tourism in Northeast India take off on a sustainable note?

As we entered the conference room, conversations in Axomiya and Garo buzzed in the air. Taking our seats we looked around and found an interesting assortment of officials from the North East Council (NEC), Ministry of Tourism (MoT), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and Transport department. Also present were the president of the Association of Tour Operators of North East India (ATONEI), president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) and other tourism stakeholders. Journalists sat with their pens ready, as the arrival of the Hon’ble Minister of Transport and Tourism, Government of Assam was eagerly awaited.

Finally, the workshop on ‘Making North East Tourism Ready’ began. Organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in collaboration with DoNER, ATONEI and NEC, the workshop was chiefly aimed at discussing an Integrated Master Plan prepared by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for NEC, for strengthening tourism circuits in the North East Region (NER). The technical sessions highlighted the tourism potential of the NER, the importance of developing infrastructure for promoting tourism, destination promotion, skill development and capacity building.

Experts spoke about the impediments to tourism in the NER, namely lack of infrastructure, skilled manpower, a common tourism master plan and most importantly, marketing! The master plan drew attention to different factors related to tourism. It talked of improving air and rail connectivity for tourists, of utilising intangible resources like local art and craft to draw tourists (something called ‘cultural tourism’), of specific destinations of tourism potential (lakes, wildlife reserves and more) in the 8 north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. It also harped on the various management-related issues to be faced during the implementation of the master plan.

I listened carefully in anticipation of another issue that loomed large and formidable in the background. But it never came. Had nobody really thought about it? Or had it simply been brushed under the ‘development’ carpet?

What about the environmental impact??? Hello??? Had that been taken into account at all? Everybody kept singing praises of the Northeast being the "unexplored paradise", about how “Nature and Culture” are the biggest “Unique ‘Selling’ Proposition” (USP) of the NER. Well, how do you expect tourism to thrive or even exist, if you don’t safeguard your first USP?? Other disturbing thoughts shot through my head. ‘Selling’? Was all that unique biodiversity and ecosystem really on sale? But before I went all philanthropic, I stopped and dragged my whirring mind back to hard facts.

This is the reality of tourism development. On one hand, it offers employment opportunities to local people, sound infrastructure and amenities, and recognition of local culture and traditions. And perhaps, this is what the Northeast needs. But not at the expense of its natural heritage! A balance is imperative. And for this, the long hike needs to start on the right foot.

The TCS project team which prepared the master plan claimed in passing that the plan had been made in consultation with concerned “tourism stakeholders.” It is left to wonder who these ‘stakeholders’ are. It was also stated that they have “tried to keep communities as the central focus.” If that was so, then where were the environmental issues, considering that the people of the Northeast are deeply respectful and protective of their natural treasures? Tourism cannot function in a vacuum, without the engagement of the local communities - the principal stakeholders of tourism, anywhere! They cannot be reduced to the status of a “tourism attraction”, along with “nature, wildlife, biodiversity, culture, heritage, religious and intangible resources…” as the master plan puts it.

I sat and watched tour operators being pleaded with to bring their businesses to the NER, for the tourism industry to resort to “aggressive marketing” as they called it. But then what about standards of sustainable tourism? Had any been set before the bandwagon arrived? How could an open invitation be sent out before their house was in order? For example, was there an effective waste management plan in place? What about measuring the tourism carrying capacity of each state and tourist destination? Did the local people really want big numbers? During the workshop, there was a proclaimed preference for “quality tourism” rather than numbers, but does quality have to mean the provision of air conditioned comfort, showers and flush toilets in biodiversity hotspots? It’s like enabling your tourist to view a rhinoceros from an air-conditioned elephant back! Is this truly ‘experiential tourism’?

The only two organisations at the workshop with this concern were the Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI) and WWF-India. Clearly outnumbered, we raised questions and elucidated issues that could not be ignored. Together, we recommended the establishment of Green Tourism Standards, an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) of every area in the NER being developed for tourism before the implementation of the master plan, close collaborations and consultation with local and other conservation NGOs with a scientific understanding of the eco-region – all to help tourism in the Northeast make a sustainable start. And to stay that way.

We walked out of the conference room, in nervous anticipation of the future of the biodiversity and culturally-rich Northeast, with tourism gradually slipping into the driver’s seat.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the unexplored Northeast India on the threshold of tourism development turned out to be a pioneer of responsible tourism in the country right from its inception?


Voices from the Northeast:-

“It is great to know that there are plans to introduce large-scale tourism in the Northeast. While this will benefit the region immensely I think this should be implemented gradually. We take great pride in our culture, our land with its lush green cover, crystal-clear lakes and cascading waterfalls. Caring for it is second nature to us. There are local myths and lores attached to many places; stories that people revere. Visitors to the Northeastern states should be sensitized to this fact and demonstrate equal respect for the environment around. It breaks my heart when I see the Umiam Lake in Shillong littered with the remains of a weekend picnic revelry by a tourist party! Also, one must collaborate with the locals in order to make tourism a sustainable and responsible exercise.”

Janusa Barbara Sangma

Shillong, Meghalaya

“When you think of opening up one of the planet’s mega biodiversity hot spots to tourism, the key operating principle to bear in mind is that of ‘balance’- a balance that will enable the fulfillment of human needs along with the protection of nature. All our lives: social, cultural and economic are cocooned within the ecological circle, if we are foolish enough to tamper with this outer all encompassing circle, it will be at our own peril!

Those inscrutable dark forests and pristine blue rivers, all abounding with life are the wealth of the NE and we cannot ravage it for myopic gains. We have to find a way to keep our natural capital intact and reap dividends from the interest.”

Mita Nangia Goswami

Assam

PHOTO CREDITS:

1. Gombu-Latso, Arunachal © Pijush K. Dutta
2. Satyr Tragopan, Sikkim © Basant Sharma
3. Local communities in Sikkim © Basant Sharma
4. Cyananthus lobatus © Basant Sharma

Story of a Green Hiker…

“I didn’t want to be just another mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest, got his glory and got out of there.”

  

Half Nepalese-half Belgian, standing sturdy at 6 feet something, Dawa Steven Sherpa is a hard core mountaineer and trekker, but with one thing that sets him apart from the many others scrambling to summit indomitable peaks. He is moving mountains to keep his mountains clean.

Born in the Sherpa community and brought up amongst mountaineers, Dawa was destined to be a climber himself. His father, Ang Tshering Sherpa, has been the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association and is currently the Immediate Past President (IPP) of the association. Both father and son run an expedition company called Asian Trekking.

Dawa reached the summit of Mount Everest in 2007, where seeing the cold, distrustful atmosphere and attitude amongst fellow travelers, he established a ‘base camp bakery’ so that hikers could meet, get friendly, and figuratively, break the ice. It was on this expedition, that he witnessed large amounts of garbage on the mountains, proving right National Geographic’s statement that Mt. Everest had become the “world’s highest garbage dump.” That is when he made up his mind to do something about it.

To tackle the problem of human waste, the young climber started importing Restop toilet bags from an American company called American Innotech (http://www.whennaturecalls.com/) which are till date, distributed free of cost to his clients and Sherpas. Moreover, Dawa sells these bags to other expeditions at cost price to encourage their use. Now, many

expeditions are bringing their own toilet bags, so the concept has proven to be a success. Through an initiative called Eco Everest Expedition, Dawa is using the resources and manpower available on the expeditions (organised as part of his business) to clean up during the expedition period (April and May). A portion of his client’s fees goes into implementing this clean up. Under this, he is also running ‘Cash for Trash’, where he offers Rs.100 for ever kilogram of trash carried back down by travelers/guides. So far, he has managed to bring down 14,259kg of trash!!

Dawa first collects the garbage – tin, aluminium, cloth, paper, wood and plastic; toxic stuff like batteries; helicopter debris (there have been four helicopter crashes) and biodegradable waste. This then goes to the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), one of the key founders of which was WWF-Nepal. He keeps the tin and aluminium in storage till he figures out what to do with them.

A garbage disposal system has been in place since the 1990s, where the Government of Nepal made it mandatory for visitors to bring back their garbage after a trek. However, this only ensured that new garbage is not dumped on the mountain, while the garbage littered before, remained un-collected since no one was accountable for it. Dawa has been collecting this trash from Mount Everest since 2008, and with combined efforts the garbage situation is getting better.

When asked if he finds it tough to stop people from littering, he coolly replies, “It’s easier for me to tell a guide or porter in Nepal to not litter because tourism is the mainstay of the country. They can make that connection between their action and the consequences of it.”

Realising the potential threat of climate change in Nepal, in the form of melting glaciers, higher incidences of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), fall in water supply, crop failure and changes in weather patterns, Dawa took a crash course in climate change from ICIMOD to develop a better understanding of the issue. “The problems we face now were never faced by my grandfather,” he says with a grimace.

But in order to organise his initiatives and send out the message in a bigger way, he needed the support of important persons and big organisations, with a similar mission.

This is when he got Apa Sherpa, the famous mountaineer and world record holder of climbing Mount Everest 21 times, on board. Apa had been a victim of a GLOF which wiped out his whole village, leaving him nothing but a blanket. In addition, Dawa got in touch with Nepali youth clubs like the Sherpa Students Network and other university students, confident in the power of young people to rally and make a difference to the society and environment around them. He organised the resources to support them and started a national campaign, where they managed to collect enough petitions to get the government to actually recognise these environmental problems. This culminated into a historical cabinet meeting at the Everest base camp where climate negotiations were held and issues discussed.

Besides the environment, Dawa has gotten involved with the human aspect of the situation. There are local communities in Nepal that are solely dependent on agriculture for sustenance, which if adversely affected would leave the people impoverished and helpless. He wanted to learn more about these communities so he could help them. According to him, most mountain communities know exactly what they need to survive on; they can perceive changes in their environment and sometimes may even know how to address them. However, they lack technical know-how, awareness about climate change, finances and able leadership.

Hence, Dawa co-founded the non-profit Himalayan Climate Initiative (HCI) with like-minded people. “Our work focuses on protecting the mountain environment and better the lives of the mountain people. We have already started a few initiatives, including the banning and replacement of plastic bags, setting up climate change response centres to educate and build resilience amongst the vulnerable communities, and working with the government and private sector to build a Zero Carbon economy, and creating ‘green jobs’.”

Part of this was the Great Himalayan Trail - the introductory project to highlight the vulnerability of local communities to climate change. This trail goes from the easternmost point of the Himalaya to the western most and vice versa. For HCI, Dawa and his team including Apa Sherpa decided to walk the whole length of Nepal to talk to the local communities. Two years of their lives revolved around planning for this journey, a journey that they finished in 99 days, having travelled 1,555km!

On the issue of tourism being a possible threat to the Himalayan ecology, Dawa is of the opinion that, “Tourism is the second highest revenue generator for Nepal. It is the best bet for these communities who have some amazing culture…but not tourism at the cost of the environment…tourism has to be sustainable.” He strongly emphasises, “The Himalaya is undoubtedly the most beautiful landscape in the world and undoubtedly, also the most fragile.”

Dawa sure has his hands full. And it all started with his love for the mountains that he calls home.

For any information or queries, Dawa Steven Sherpa can be contacted at dawasteven@gmail.com