Help Tourism

“All roads lead to China border”, the Telegraph today headlined an article reporting that “India is sprucing up its frontier with China by taking up a massive four-year project to connect villages, military posts and towns strung on the border across the Himalayas from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.”Few weeks back the “Maitree-Express” to Dhaka was flagged off from Kolkata as the first passenger railway service between India and Bangladesh since 43 years (article in The Hindu). For the East Himalaya the thaw in the border policy is a great chance and a great support to our this year’s mission “Tracing Traditional Routes through Tourism”.
Entering Tibet from Sikkim via Nathu-La Pass, visiting both the Indian and the Bangladesh Sunderbans as one ecosystem by boat, following the Ledo Stillwell Road through the Mishmi Hills of East Arunachal and crossing the Pangsau-Pass into Burma/Myanmar, entering Manas Nationalpark in India after a visit to Bhutan via the Royal Manas Nationalpark, experiencing the rich heritage of Central Bengal with the lost cities of Pandua and Gaur in West-Bengal on the Indian side and the World Heritage Site of Bagerhat in Bangladesh, or tracing Buddhism from Lumbini in Nepal via Bodh Gaia in India and the Somapura Vihara at Paharpur in Bangladesh before re-entering India in the Tripura, where Buddhism flourished from the 2nd to the 9th century, and many important sites are yet to be explored by tourists. The list could continue without losing any attractiveness given the cultural, religious, ethnic and natural diversity and links that characterize the region.

Eight years back we have promoted the “Destination 2000: East and North East India, Nepal, Bhutan & Bangladesh”, and in 2006 we headlined our efforts “Cross-border Conservation through Community Cooperation”. Now, we feel that our 2008 mission “Tracing Traditonal Routes through Tourism” is a vision increasingly being shared.

A bit more than three months have passed since the German expert Klaus was a main speaker at a workshop on Waste Management in Lava. That days, the meetings were well attended, the community was quite enthusiastic and the incinerator, that Klaus had introduced and explained, had been burning till late that night. He was very interested to find out how much of the communities’ self-commitment was left and how much of the waste was gone, and we as well we’re quite curious. So we called at Lava to get some feedback. Few members of the Lava Hotel & Restaurant Association, of the Driver Welfare Association and the Forest Department were around to share their experiences: A process has started and few cleaning and burning sessions have been organised. Both local people and visitors have recognised that something is happening. The Forest Department has adopted Klaus’ technology of the staggered grills for the construction of three incinerators that are located on strategic points in Lava. Places for waste-separation have been set aside next to the incinerators but practical implementation is only in the very beginning. Cleaning and burning are currently organised rather in form of events than with a clearly defined responsibility for permanent service and maintenance. Having two dedicated “village cleaners” for four incinerators is an odd relation. A broader community involvement, the establishment and use of a recycling and collection system, and a general commitment towards a cleaner Lava are issues that are addressed in formal and informal meetings. But the villagers are realistic enough to know that it is a long way.

Our summary: The collection and burning sessions have been quite effective. Lava appears much cleaner than before with many of the green areas unlittered. People still talk about waste and its treatment - the intention to bring this issue into the discussion worked out. Talking is not walking - and people have understood that well and the search for stable solutions continues.

A small boy passes by on his way back from school. Unpacking a toffee the sweet goes into his mouth and the wrapping on the street. As it was always done. As it was just done one minute early by the old man that had finished his beedee pack. A workshop can “Promote waste free tourism destinations” and get things started, but habits don’t change that easy.

We (Help Tourism & ACT team) were in two minds before attending the ICRT conference, the second after the Cape Town conference in 2002. The reasons being:

• Fees & conveyance:
  With the amount that would be spent for attending the conference, would be almost equivalent to building three toilets for our recent community project called Dihing River Camp. The same is expected to be functional by October, 2008.
• Conference venue & delegate accommodation options:
  Our understanding of the principles of responsible tourism and the use of 5-star convention venue and also options for delegates to stay in the star hotels, whose responsible policy was not known, this was somewhat a question for us.

We decided to join the conference after several discussions realizing the fact that the East & Northeast India would go unrepresented in a declaration on responsible tourism being held in India. That several representatives from the Government of India, Department of Tourism and the state Governments would be attending the conference and we would influence them to draw a policy based on responsible tourism. The last but not the least, our presentation will help to influence the declaration on issues that we have been discussing locally.

We did gain something from the conference

• Network with delegates nationally & internationally who thought on the same lines like us
• Our presentation could influence the declaration through its acceptance of the fact that the community participation phenomenon was the core strength of the responsible tourism movement, and that travel warnings by tourist originating countries on host countries should be more responsible
• Contact people who were interested in our cross-border tourism & conservation issues
• The interaction with the South Africa team, where the 2002 or the first declaration took place on their views that: Policy to action is still far to go in their country, the policy should be considered from the community priority, i.e. bottom up policy

The outcome of the conference, the Kerala Declaration on Responsible Tourism sets a both promising and challenging framework for the way ahead. For the next conference hopefully we have already gone as far as to allow more ground practicioners sharing their experience - their knowledge is too valuable as to set them aside because participation would be too costly for them.

The Sunderbans are quiet, remote, dark - boring for many, a lifetime experience for others. Here’s what Elizabeth from the US experienced:

The night before we left though, is seared into my brain. Dev (our guide) took us to the local village ceremony. Since noise travels for miles there, each morning we heard music at about 5 AM …… We inquired where the music was coming from …… He told us that it was a local village ceremony that was going on for a few days. On the last night, he asked if we wanted to go to the ceremony. It was a 45 minute walk from the camp to the village. A little dog ( they are all over the place) followed us the entire way, which was a very brave thing to do since almost everyone has a dog near their little thatch hut and the dogs serve as “alarm systems” challenging anyone or any dog that passes by the outside. Thank the Lord it was a semi full moon, and our guide had a “torch” which was really a big flashlight”

It was surreal. Mist coming off the water, the tiny fishing boats anchored in the water right off the path, thick trees coming out of the water, thatched huts all around. What I could conjure up was Japan circa 1700. And, the anticipation that a tiger could emerge at any moment . Thinking back on it, it was a “bit” life threatening but I NEVER think that anything BAD can happen – and figuring I was with my guide – what could happen? As it happened, we were completely safe …. And the visual of that night it right up there with the great moments of life … the Pyramids ( I was in the Mena House) , the Great Wall of China ( I trekked the 6 mile section of it), the Peruvian Amazon ( spent 4 nights in the THICK OF IT) , the Taj Mahal, Varanassi ( I can go on but you get the picture) . It was an OH MY GOD……

Once we got to the village – the people were incredulous. We were a hit!! We were in the middle of nowhere at a local festival -[…]

Ashoka’s Changemakers and National Geographic had send out an invitation to all the tourism companies that believe they make a change:

“The goal of the Geotourism Challenge is to identify and showcase innovators-individuals and organizations- that support the approach known as geotourism: tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place-its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.”

Squeezing 17 years of community work in various projects all over East- and Northeast India into the limited space to answer all the questions really was a challenge. But today we submitted our entry. Now it is up to you to comment our work and share your experiences with us. And if the judges think that we really make a change with our conservation- and community tourism initiatives in the East Himalaya, and nominate us as a finalist, you can vote for us from the 28th of May onwards.