ECOLOGICAL IDIOSYNCRASY: A CASE OF COMMUNITY BASED ECOTOURISM IN THE HIMALAYAS Dhiraj Pathak1, Gaurav Bathla2, Shashi K Tiwari3 1Assistant Professor and HOD, Faculty of Hospitality, GNA University, Phagwara (India) 2Assistant Professor, Faculty of Hospitality, GNA University, Phagwara (India) 3Associate Professor, Faculty of Hospitality, GNA University, Phagwara (India) I INTRODUCTION Community-based ecotourism is a form of ecotourism that emphasizes the development of local communities and allows for local residents to have substantial control over, and involvement in; its development and management, and a major proportion of the benefits remain within the community. Community-based ecotourism should foster sustainable use and collective responsibility, but it also embraces individual initiatives within the community. With this form of ecotourism, local residents share the environment and their way of life with visitors, while increasing local income and building local economies. By sharing activities such as festivals, homestays, and the production of artisan goods, community-based ecotourism allows communities to participate in the modern global economy while cultivating a sustainable source of income and maintaining their way of life. A successful model of community-based ecotourism works with existing community initiatives, utilizes community leaders, and seeks to employ local residents so that income generated from ecotourism stays in the community and maximizes local economic benefits. Although ecotourism often promises community members improved livelihoods and a source of employment, irresponsible ecotourism practices can exhaust natural resources and exploit local communities. It is essential that approaches to community-based ecotourism projects be a part of a larger community development strategy and carefully planned with community members to ensure that desired outcomes are consistent with the community’s culture and heritage. In many ways, participants are not employees, but managers. Community-based ecotourism initiatives decrease poverty not only by increasing income but also by providing residents of rural communities with the tools and knowledge necessary for long-term critical thinking and decision-making. Ecotourism is no panacea; community-based ecotourism and responsible ecotourism should be part of wider sustainable development strategies. 254 | P a g e II PRINCIPLES FOR COMMUNITY BASED ECOTOURISM Identity: Respect and preserve all the characteristics of the environment, help residents reclaim historical practices, revitalize productive activities, highlight the ethnic background of the population, and highlight the unique aspects of the locality, such as topography, climate, architecture, cuisine and handicrafts. Roots and Customs: Highlight local cultural practices so that communities share their cultures and traditions with tourists with authenticity. Invaluable educational opportunities such as homestays and town-hall-style round of talks are encouraged so that tourists and local community members can mutually share cultural aspects such as food, music, folklore, and goods. Both visitor and community cultures will always be treated with appreciation and respect. Ecological Consciousness and Harmony: Seek to conserve natural ecosystems and cultures by being a part of a larger development plan. All plans have a low impact on the local environment while highlighting the unique aspects of the locality, such as topography, climate, and architecture. The conservation of nature and rigorous concern with the environment influence the development of infrastructure for community-based ecotourism activities (i.e. building houses, roads, showers, etc.). Local Control: Local control of the community-based ecotourism industry. Local leadership leads plans and encourages clear and transparent decision-making. Community members actively make decisions on strategies and acceptable levels of ecotourism based upon the community’s culture, heritage and vision. Strategies also equip local communities with the tools and knowledge necessary for decision-making, and to build effective structures to enable the community to influence, manage and benefit fromecotourism development and practice. Sustainable Economic Development: Stimulate the local economy by generating income through the sustainable use of natural resources. All plans seek to ensure that the local population has an equitable share in benefits. The present study attempts to identify the opportunities for Community Based Eco Ecotourism (CBET) the district of New Tehri. III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Structured questionnaire based on five pointLikert Scale was used to collect the data for the present study. The questionnaire was prepared to understand the views of the host community regarding community 255 | P a g e based ecotourism and its impact in the area. The respondents were 150 local populations of New Tehri town and nearby villages. Convenient sampling was used for the data collection. IV REVIEW OF LITERATURE Community Based Ecotourism (CBET) focusses on the local environment and culture, appears as astraightforward solution that has the potential to alleviate poverty and environmental stress. CBET encompasses the desire to encourage empowerment, gender equity, capacity building, education and strengthening of cultural identity and traditions (Moscardo,2008). Wide range of academic research have been done on the various aspects of CBET by various researchers like Taylor(1995), Little (1994), Aramberry (2001), Hall(2000),Timothy(1999), Davis,D, Allen,J, Cosenja, A, (1988), Bagri, S.C.(2004), Gupta(2006),Bansal (2006), Murphy, P,(1985), Moscardo, G,(1998), Stronza, A, (1999), Denman,R,(2001), etc. Many researchers like Maikhuri,R.K., & Nautiyal S.(2000), Bagri S.C. &Mishra J.M.(2004b),Kandari O.P., and Gusain, O.P., (2001), Gupta, S.K.,(2002), KaurJ.,(1985) etc., have worked on various aspects of ecotourism in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand Himalaya. V THE AREA UNDER INVESTIGATION Tehri Garhwal district lies between the latitudes of 30°.3’N and 30°53’N and 77°56’E and 79°04’Elongitude. The region is mountainous. RiverBhagirathi divides the district roughly into two.Bhilangana, Alaknanda, Ganga and Yamunarivers border it on the east and west. The districtsbordering Tehri Garhwal are Uttarkashi in the north,Garhwal in the south, Rudraprayag in the east andDehradun in the west. Figure 1. The Study Area 256 | P a g e VI TOURISM RESOURCES OF THE STUDY AREA Tehri has lot of options for ecotourism, and quite a few religious places as well. Most visited places in Tehri are Devi Kunjapuri and Chandrabadni temple, while trekking routes toMahasarTaal, Sahstratal and Khatling glacierare very popular amongst domestic and foreigntourists. Some of the areas in Tehri region which have huge development potential are PanwaliKantha, BhelbagiBugyal and KhaitParvat. Theseplaces can be developed in near future and willcomplement the development of Tehri Lake and itssurroundings. The Tehri Lake and surrounding areais ideal for development of ecotourism and adventurerelated activities. Tehri Lake has the potential ofbecoming a world- class ecotourism destination withworld-class water adventure sports activities Table 1. Tourism Resources of the Study Area Resource Altitude(m) Distances from Distances via Road (km) Kanatal 2590 Kaddukhal 9.0 Chandrabadni 2756 Devprayag 1.5 Kunjapuri 1645 Narendra Nagar 0.2 Panwali 3963 Ghuttu 15 Kantha Khatling 3717 Ghuttu 45 Glacier Sahastra Tal 4572 Ghuttu 32 KhaitParvat 3030 Ghansali, 8.5 Ghonti Surkanda Devi 2757 Dhanaulti 1.5 Maithiyana Devi 2500 Tilwara, Bhardar 9.0 Tehri Garhwal has a predominant forest cover of over 60%. Only 15.1%of Land is under non-agricultural use in addition to 1% of barren and non-cultivable land. 257 | P a g e Table 2. Land Use in the Study Area Land Use Area (Ha Percentage Forest Area 322051 62.2 Land Under Cultivation 88461 17.1 Cultivable Barren Land 5681 1.1 Total Fallow Land 15707 3.0 Barren and Non-Cultivable 5844 1.1 Land Land Under Non-agriculture 78366 15.1 Use Land Under Gardens, 1372 0.3 Bushes, Groves etc. Pasture and Other Grazing Land 539 0.1 Total 518021 100 Source: Department of Forest, Tehri Garhwal VII DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE As per 2011 census Tehri Garhwal district had a population of 618,931. The population density ofthe district is 169 per sqkm. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was only 2.35% ascompared to the decade 1991- 2001 when it was16.25%. This change in therate of growth in the last decade can be attributed to reorganization of the district boundaries whenJakholi block was included in Rudraprayag district, and partially to the construction of the TehriDam and the accompanying resettlement andrehabilitation measures. An analysis of the census data of Uttarakhand from 1971 to 2011 and the dataof Tehri Garhwal shows that Tehri Garhwal has a largely rural population with an urban population share of only 11.3 % (as per Census 2011). It has a literacy rate of 75.1%. The district has a sex ratioof 1078 females (for every 1000 males). TOPOGRAPHY Tehri Garhwal district comprises two broadphysiographic divisions viz. Central HimalayanZone (north of the Main Central Thrust) exposed inthe north eastern part and Lesser Himalayan Zone (south of the Main Central Thrust) in 258 | P a g e the rest of thearea. The physiography of the district is characterizedby high mountain peaks, deep gorges and valleys.The major part of the area is inaccessible due toextremely rugged topography