Tourism in Protected Areas and Appraisal of Ecotourism in Nepalese Policies

Abstract

Ecotourism is a form of nature-based tourism. It is recognized as the sustainable alternative to the mass tourism and is executed to contribute to the protection and enhancement of various component of the environment. As environmental and cultural diversity are considered as the greatest assets to ecotourism, Nepal with high cultural and environmental diversity is prime destinations for ecotourism and other forms of nature-based tourism. Ecotourism contributes to the conservation of biodiversity as a primary source of internal funding in the protected areas. Researches on the aspects of ecotourism in Nepal were focused towards potentiality evaluation, impact assessment and the impact of climate change including others. Despite the significance of ecotourism in the Nepalese economy, research on governance aspects of ecotourism is limited. This article aims to analyze the role of government in ecotourism development in Nepal through policy-based approach. Beside this, data of visitation in the protected areas was evaluated. Tourist number in the protected area was observed to increase in a gradual fashion in response to the growing number of tourists visiting Nepal. Tourism policies of government primarily focus to increase the number of tourists in the country and fail to recognize tourism carrying capacity and environmental implication. Different tourism and other sectoral policies attempt to cover the issues of ecotourism, but, ecotourism specific policy is yet to be drafted. In addition to this, the tourism aspect is addressed by the species conservation action plan for species-level conservation within the country. In all, nine action plans reviewed, the provisions relating to tourism were found to be too general, most of them acknowledging ecotourism as a source of conservation funding but failed to define species-specific policy. A similar trend can be observed in the protected area management plan excluding the Chitwan and Banke National Park. Further study on the implementation status and formulation of new policy to address the holistic issues of ecotourism is an urgent requirement.

Interactions between birds and flowers of Rhododendron spp., and their implications for mountain communities in Nepal

“…In addition, the spectacular displays of flowering Rhododendron and the huge bird diversity of these ecosystems brings in tourists (and researchers) and their much-needed foreign currency to support local hotels and their employees. Tourism and travel is growing annually and accounted for 2.3% of Nepal's GDP in 2016/17, with 70% of international visitors involved in trekking and mountaineering (Aryal, Ghimire, & Niraula, 2019). Finally, we also note that R. arboreum is the national flower of Nepal.…”

Biology and Ecological Adaptations of Blackbuck (Antilope Cervicapra): A Review

“…By taking into account the economic importance and part of nature of Blackbuck attraction of tourists and researchers, its conservation is necessary to maintain the beauty and biodiversity of nature (Amar 2011). For ecotourism, conservational support and sustainable management of species, blackbuck is getting great attention of country level policies (Aryal 2019). Hunting of the species is very much attracting part for some people as species have delicious and nutritious meat.…”

Perspectives of Nepalese Youth on Ecotourism Practiced at Rara National Park, Western Nepal

“…Despite the signifi cance of ecotourism in Nepal, there are not enough researches that adequately address the perspectives of ecotourism. Policy documents of Nepal also have failed to understand the diff erence of other nature based tourism from ecotourism (Aryal, Ghimire, & Niraula, 2019). Low priority by the government means, problems related to ecotourism are rarely addressed by concerned government authority.…”