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“When I was young, I went to the forest twice or thrice a day for fodder, fuelwood and water. It got on my nerves. But over the years, the community’s reliance on forests declined so much that the younger generation could not even connect to the areas like we did,” says 62-year-old Pushpa Devi of Uttarakhand’s Chopriyal village. “But now, after I started conducting walking trails through our forests, I am happy to see children interested in the area,” she says.
Since 2023, Pushpa Devi and eight other women from four villages of Chamba block, Tehri district, are earning a livelihood by running homestays and conducting guided trails. As of March 2025, they have conducted 65 walking tours—on five trails developed around the villages and forest—for tourists, earning more than Rs 1 lakh.
These women are part of Him Vikas Samiti (HVS), a collective of self-help groups. In 2023, Dehradun-based non-profit Himmotthan Society helped the self-help groups of Chamba block form the collective and obtain funds to improve livelihoods through rural tourism initiatives. The homestays and nature trails helmed by the nine women are an extension to one such initiative, explains Priyanka Rawat, block coordinator,tourism, Himmotthan.
The homestays were developed under a community participation model, retaining the old architecture of the village homes. The women were given financial assistance to renovate a spare room and build a washroom in their homes—80 per cent of the cost was borne by Himmotthan and 20 per cent by the community.
“There is an abandoned heritage building near our village which is historically known to us as one of the 52 garhs of Uttarakhand. Not many people know the actual story but I was happy to hear children telling its history to a tourist group I was walking around," says Sushma Pundeer of Silkoti village, who conducts nature trails in the Kaudia forest range. “The young girls and boys in our villages now aspire to be nature guides,” she adds.
HVS has also set up a community-run eatery, Nathuli Café, in Jadipani village, which serves traditional dishes using local agro-produce, says Saurabh Ramola, chief operating officer of the collective. The café has generated an income of Rs 5.35 lakh since 2023.
The response has been encouraging, with local hoteliers and resort owners partnering with the collective. "The guests who stay at our resort find the nature walks refreshing. Unlike other commercial walks, there is a flavour of local biodiversity, culture and food which makes it a unique experience," says Manoj Badoni, manager of Amaya Resort near Chopriyal village.
On March 24, HVS was recognised for its efforts on poverty alleviation in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 1 by the Centre for Policy Research and Good Governance, and was awarded by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
This was first published in the 16-30 April, 2025 print edition of Down To Earth