Aditi Singh & Ragini Letitia Singh
The rush of adrenaline when you’re paragliding off a cliff,
or making your way through the choppy grade 4 rapids, hoping your raft wont tip
over (or secretly hoping it does), or plunging, against your better judgment,
down a cliff, with nothing but bungee equipment attached to your ankles; there
are few experiences which put you physically and emotionally so out of your
comfort zone. This is the appeal of adventure tourism- a raw, dangerous and
intimate engagement with nature.
The most important word in that sentence: nature. Where
would we kayak, canoe or raft if not for the water flowing down from our
mountains, where would we trek if not for the towering giants around us? Where
would we dive if not for inviting oceans and colourful corals underneath? The
point being that adventure tourism cannot be sustained if we cannot sustain the
environment and ecosystem, which it thrives on.
People are greater consumers on holidays. The impacts of
such behaviour are widespread, ranging from environmental, social, cultural and
economic resulting in a loss of environmental health, traditional culture and
local economic benefits. This was one of the aspects that were discussed at a recent round table
conference on adventure tourism organized by CII.
Besides discussing topics like product development and effective
marketing, the conference laid emphasis on the responsibility of the adventure
tourism industry to safeguard the natural ecosystems where it functions, a
subject that is increasingly gaining eminence. It was stated that adventure
tourism is a more responsible form of tourism compared to others. Most
adventure tourists love the outdoors, and would be relatively more conscious of
and sensitized to good and bad practices while travelling. Even in the past, these
tourists have been involved in initiatives such as tree plantations and solid
waste management in collaboration with the local communities – a healthy
example of the union of adventure and community-based tourism. This can be seen
as a positive start!
The need of the hour is planned tourism, which takes into
account the environmental vulnerability of the region before planning
activities and other tourist attractions. It is also important to understand
that some regions may be more ecologically delicate than others, for example
Himalayan high altitude regions where environmental damage takes much longer to
reverse. Therefore, before promoting tourism in any area, the challenges that
come with such an influx needs to be addressed.
Interestingly, a panelist representing Uttarakhand Tourism
spoke about the state as being a “trekker’s delight”, which it most certainly is.
She advertised events such as Raid De Himalaya - a car rally (read ‘battle’)
from Shimla to Srinagar on Asia’s highest motorable pass, the Nanda Devi Raj
Ghat trek - a 280km trek involving thousands of pilgrims and the half marathon
in Rishikesh. “You must come and attend
these events we are organizing,” she proudly said.
But when pointed questions like “Has an environmental impact assessment been carried out before planning
these events?” or “Do you have a
solid waste management plan in place to take care of the massive amount of
waste that will be generated?” were asked, she said, inconclusively “We have hired consultants.”
It makes one stop and think, and feel a little disturbed at
the blatant lack of environmental accountability and concern in tourism in
India.
Another panelist for the “Responsible Tourism session”
representing Taj Safaris showed us breathtaking photographs of their eco huts,
all built with locally available material. On the verge of falling for it, we
stopped and asked a question. “What in
the world was a bath tub doing there?” A bathtub usually has a water
capacity of about 100 litres leading to wastage and added pressure on water
resources and the issue of treatment of waste water. Her answer, “We really can’t do away with certain
‘necessities’. And anyway, we have bathtubs only in areas where there is no
water scarcity.” Why are we not convinced?
She also suggested limiting tigers in the forests around
their eco resorts to an area of 50-100 sq km. To that came the response, “Tigers in the wild are meant to be free and
roam where they like. You might as well fence them in and start a zoo.”
Lady’s response – “We only want to do
this so we don’t lose our tigers. We never know where they go.” Well, we
aren’t supposed to, right?
It is seemingly little things like these that make one worry.
Is responsible tourism always going to be a myth, propagated by an outnumbered
few? How long can the mask of “ecotourism” be used to market tourism products? Or
perhaps things are changing for the better. Perhaps efforts are being made, not
perfectly, but only in need of a push in the right direction. Ecotourism in
particular is one of those sensitive areas of intervention, where conservation
and industrial profit are motives that walk hand-in-hand. We just need to ensure that
whatever happens, happens for the right reasons.
Opening up an area is the easiest thing to do but managing
it responsibly, is where the real difficulty lies. Can India manage it?
PHOTO CREDITS:
1) River rafting - Himraj Soin
2) Gaur in Periyar - Ragini Letitia Singh
3) Kanasar Lake in Uttarakhand - Emmanuel Theophilus
4) Tiger in Ranthambhore - Ragini Letitia Singh
5) Elephant safari in Corbett - Ragini Letitia Singh
