You must be surprised how a commercial enterprise, which is mostly done by hoteliers from outside or the travel agencies sitting in a city like Delhi or Mumbai, helps the tigers in their reserves. In this blog, I will explain how ecotourism helps protect tigers in India.
Before going into details, I would like to make it dramatic and show you four scenarios from three different tiger reserves in India.
Scenario 1:
You have planned a holiday in Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, and you are going on your first safari in the reserve. You started interacting with the driver and naturalist of your safari vehicle. Their first introduction to you is that they belong to a village near the tiger reserve. This excites you, and you start asking them more about how they survive near a jungle where big cats roam free.
Then the driver stops the vehicle, and the guide shows you the Hard Ground Barasingha, a subspecies found only in Kanha (recently they were relocated to Satpura and Bandhavgarh as well), grazing in the beautiful rolling meadow. After giving information about Barasingha, the guide proudly says this meadow was our village, and we were relocated from here a long time back; now this field is a prime habitat for Barasingha. When villages were relocated, a person from each family was given a job in the forest department, either as a guide or a forest guard.
Scenario 2:
Now the scene shifts to a reserve in northern India, the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. During the safari, you heard a similar story. Now, after the safari, you want to do a different activity, one focused on conservation. You asked your hotel, and they suggested you could go and meet the women at ‘Dhonk,’ an enterprise run by a cooperative of Mogya women.
These women belong to the Mogya tribe, which was previously involved in poaching tigers and other wildlife. Then you visit an NGO named ‘Tiger Watch,’ run by a few conservationists of Ranthambhore and was responsible for exposing the poaching gangs of the Mogya tribe. You are surprised to know that the NGO funding is mostly from the lodges and resorts based in Ranthambhore.
Then you visit a boys’ hostel run by Tiger Watch near the reserve. This hostel provides everything to the Mogya kids whose parents are in jail for killing tigers and other wildlife. They are getting education, meals, sports facilities, and career guidance. You were impressed and donated some stationery items to the hostel kids.
Scenario 3:
Now you go further towards the north, to India’s first national park and tiger reserve, ‘Corbett Tiger Reserve.’ This tiger reserve is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas and Shivaliks, in Uttarakhand, and is known for its highest numbers of tigers in India. You booked a stay inside the reserve, in the forest rest house of Dhikala. You meet your naturalist and driver at the Dhangarhi gate of the reserve, and after the official formalities, you finally start your first safari on the Corbett Tiger Reserve.
From the gate to Dhikala, you go on the main road, but because this road passes through the core of the reserve, you get chances to see several wild animals, including tigers and birds. Your guide and the drivers are expert tiger trackers and have excellent knowledge of the birds of the landscape.
You started interacting with them, and then again, you are surprised to know that they belong to a community that was basically a nomadic community, but a long time back, some of them settled in the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand and started to keep cattle, which they leave in the jungle to graze, and sell their milk to the nearby cities and towns.
They used to go on bicycles or bikes to deliver milk, and when they encountered any animal, especially tigers or elephants, they knew how to escape their attack. They had excellent knowledge of Jungle craft. Now their villages have been shifted out of the reserve, and most of them have gotten jobs as guides or naturalists and are earning good money.
Scenario 4:
Now you come back from your safari, and the security man at the gate of your lodge is from the local village. The person at the front office handing over your key is another local. The housekeeping manager who prepared your room is also local, and in the restaurant, the food served to you is prepared and served by a local village boy. You interact with each one of them and learn so many things about the jungle, village life, wildlife, and also about their excellent knowledge of local customs and traditions.
Why tigers need conservation through ecotourism?
The tiger holds a prominent position in the jungle food chain or pyramid. They need a large, undisturbed forest area to survive with a minimum population of at least 80-100 tigers, including breeding females, and an area of more than 1000 sq. km. for the long-term survival of the species. Unfortunately, most of our protected areas do not fulfill the basic criteria of tiger conservation because of fragmentation, encroachment, and poaching of the tigers and prey animals.
In recent years, because of the efforts of the government, law enforcement agencies, and conservation organizations, the situation has improved in India, which is reflected in our tiger census report. Public support and conservation education are the most crucial things that are required by the tigers, and we can only achieve this with the participation of all stakeholders in conservation decisions.
Tiger Conservation by Supporting the Local Community
In the example given above, it is now evident that the local community is benefiting from tiger conservation. The guides and drivers in the forest department and the staff in a resort or lodge all get direct benefits from tourism because they are employed, but there are indirect benefits that the local community enjoys because of tiger tourism.
A resort buys vegetables from a local villager and gives monetary benefits to them, which is an indirect benefit. Similarly, a grocery store owner also indirectly benefits from tourism when he sells the grocery items to the lodge. There are a few lodges that maintain their high standard in terms of services and comfort, and support local communities by buying everything from them. For example,
Meru Vann, a lodge situated near the Kanha tiger reserve, believes in buying vegetables from the local villages rather than growing their own. They also encourage the villagers to grow different varieties, which is not only good for the villagers but also good for the land as well. The other indirect benefits are the infrastructure development. The government creates roads, provides water & sanitation, and provides 24-hour power connection.
These facilities are still not available in many cities, but are available near the reserve because of tourism. Many lodges support local schools by providing various facilities that are available only in city schools, especially private schools.
Tiger Conservation by funding Conservation initiatives
Many tour operators, like ‘Nature Safari India,’ provide funding to the organizations working for the conservation of tigers in different tiger reserves, like Earth Focus, Earth Brigade Foundation, and Waste Warrior. Likewise, other tour companies and resort owners also support these conservation organizations working in the field of wildlife conservation.
Funds will also be given to the forest department to install solar water pumps, create waterholes, and support their community initiatives. In Kanha Tiger Reserve, the forest department started a school called ‘Bhoor Singh School,’ which provides quality education with the standard of schools in metro cities, entirely from the support of the travel agents and wildlife lodges.
The entry fees paid by the tourists also go towards the conservation of tigers and support for the local communities.
How you can contribute to the Conservation of Tigers
How You Can Contribute to the Conservation of Tigers
As a tourist, your visit to the reserve supports tiger conservation, but you should consider these things before planning your visit to any tiger reserve.
- Always select a tour operator. These tour operators support nature conservation by funding it, and sometimes they also provide resources and support new research.
- If you select the right tour operator, then you don’t need to worry about your stay in the reserve because tour operators who believe in conservation always select the lodge that is responsible and supports conservation and sustainable tourism.
- If you are booking your lodge by yourself, then book a lodge that employs more than 90% of the local communities and has a low carbon and water footprint.
- Volunteer with an organization that works for conservation in the field. You can find many online, but choose wisely to ensure your money goes to conservation.
- Support the forest department staff by providing them with rain gear, torches, or other field equipment.
- You can carry stationery for the kids and distribute it to schools. You can visit the schools and interact with the kids; this will also give them a feeling of pride in saving tigers.
- You can contact us if you want to know more about how to contribute to tiger conservation in India.
