It’s not just about a good holiday

The devil is in the detail. When land is held in public trust, the question of who constitutes the public needs clarity. In India’s protected areas this question has become pertinent in light of the Supreme Court’s interim decision on tourism. This order requires states to declare buffer zones for tiger reserves. Tourism within the core of the reserves without notified buffer zones has been banned.

Tiger reserved

Business in Khatia village on the border of Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh starts as early as 2.30 am. Tour operators crowd the yet-to-open ticket counter at the entry gate. Gypsies carrying drowsy tourists start queuing up, jostling to be ahead of each other. Restaurants and shops open to serve the tourists. As soon as dawn breaks, Khatia resembles a crowded marketplace.

GOT IT!

In 2004-05, the department says that about 100,000 people visited and its receipts at the gate were Rs 1.67 crore. But this is a small proportion of the tourist earning.

Once poachers now guards

A forest guard sets out on his nightly patrol in the Periyar Tiger Reserve (ptr) in Kerala's Idukki district with the most unlikely companion: a former smuggler of vayana, the bark of the cinnamon tree. The two appear to get along well especially that now both are on the same side of the law. After a while, the ex-poacher suddenly stops and motions to his senior colleague. They can hear the almost inaudible thud of an axe.

Boom

Peace isn't elusive

Tourism...handicrafts...agriculture...forests... lakes - Jammu & Kashmir's (j&k) basis of survival for ages. They still constitute 98 per cent of the state's economy and sustain 90 per cent of its population. Kashmir's economy is nothing but a sensitive and organised use of its ecology.

Ecotourism: Scrambling for paradise

Seeking nirvana Rich, restless and willing to pay

Letters - January 15, 2012

It is not a Zoo Apropos of the article, “Don’t just cash in on tigers” (December 1-15, 2011), “eco-tourism” is restricted to brochures, books, and talks by wildlife resorts. One should understand that anything done in the name of tourism is not always right.

Don’t just cash in on tigers

Eco-tourism, as the world understands it, means impact of tourism on wild habitats and wildlife is deliberately kept low. It also means that local conservation contexts are acknowledged and efforts are made to improve the economic lot of communities living around a sanctuary or national park. Eco-tourism must make tourists more aware of the need for, and challenges to, wildlife conservation. But all this requires that the people who run the show themselves are responsible; it precludes outright capitalism as motive for entering the tourism business.

From the blurbs

Inside wikileaks, my time with julian assange at the world’s most dangerous website