Ecotourism: An Innovative Approach to Biodiversity Conservation and Community Development

The traditional conservation approach of designating Protected Areas (PAs) for biodiversity conservation has come under severe criticism in the last few decades. This conservation paradigm worked well where there were no nature-resource dependent communities, but it has done inordinate harm where such communities existed. The challenge has been to seek innovative approaches to conservation, while also taking into consideration community development. Ecotourism has emerged as one such approach. Ecotourism or simply ‘responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people’, is a concept that has grown considerably in the last few decades. It offers possibilities of improving livelihood security in and around ecologically sensitive areas. The benefits of ecotourism can provide necessary incentives to local people for conservation. This paper describes two examples from India where local communities, as a result of being involved in ecotourism, have become partners in conservation, and have benefited from the same. One example is from Ladakh, where community-based homestays have helped reduce the hostility of people towards the snow leopard. The other is from Kachchh, where a similar initiative has helped support conservation of the Banni grasslands. Based on these experiences, the chapter discusses some enabling mechanisms to ensure that ecotourism becomes a viable business.