Eco-tourism in Nepal
Whatever you prefer to call it ‘sustainable tourism’ or ‘eco-tourism’ or ‘green tourism’ but the definition remains same; environmental-friendly tourism that cherishes not destroys. Green or Sustainable Tourism has been described as “managing tourism’s impacts on the environment, communities and the economy to make sure that the effects are positive rather than negative for the benefit of future generations”. As far as we are concerned, green tourism is about creating new opportunities for tourism and encouraging the development of existing tourism enterprises with minimum impact on wildlife and the environment. We believe that sustainable green tourism makes important sense for the long term, and taps into a growing demand for holidays that leave the smallest possible 'footprint' on the environment and local communities.
In today’s world where concern and scientific evidence grows daily about global warming and the human race's generally harmful effects on the planet, the Green sustainable environmentally-aware tourist can only increase in number. You'll need heating, lighting, food, information, transport and a whole range of services but as an environmentally conscious traveller you can minimize the negative impact on environment by considering different methods. As a responsible tour operator we are aware of environmental factor and our endeavours is always to go Green. Going green is not about reducing the quality of any of our services; looking after the environment is about doing more with less.
An eco-tourism can provide, if managed and catered for properly, the utilisation of natural resources to create sustainable income for businesses and individuals. Though it is true that eco tourism provides full and effective participation and viable income-generating opportunities and employment for local people, eco tourism in Nepal is newly introduced.
With an ambition of poverty alleviation through sustainable tourism, the Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme (TRPAP) is an initiative of the Government toward eco-tourism in Nepal with technical and financial support from various international development agencies and non government organisations. The Programme is believed to contribute to the poverty alleviation objective of the government through sustainable tourism development that is pro-poor, pro-environment, pro-rural communities and pro-women, making the benefits of tourism reach grass-roots level in the specific programme sites. We believe and fully support the initiative, and thus provide eco-trekking to these programme sites.
Economy model based on eco-tourism is the only model that still shown constant improvement in living standards for most of the people. It is the economy that reduces the productive efficiency to produce more wealth to the nation so strategies must be economically feasible. Basic tourism infrastructure and facilities such as clean drinking water, sanitation, transportation system and roadways are fundamentals to attract more tourists for sustainable tourism development in Nepal. If basic infrastructures and facilities are provided to bring tourists into the country, the flow of investment also increases. When if the number of tourist increases, the eco tourism-based economy has to be increased and attention must shift to sustained public action.
Recent developments on the major trekking trails have been a serious concern to both the environmentalists and locals. Because of the increased in the numbers of tourist and teahouses along the trekking trails, indirectly it also increased the demand for wood and fuel which has led to deforestation. Another problem that comes with this is the amount of waste which is increasing rapidly without the proper mechanism for disposal. Due to this some of the popular trails both unsightly and unhealthy this then leads to major health issues. To change this superfluous incident, awareness campaigns should be conducted on the part of trekkers and the local people. More environmentally sound trekking messages needs to be passed along to all that is concerned at a faster pace and in an efficient manner.
Eco-tourism development requires a partnership between tour operators, travellers, locals, various organisations and state with an appropriate division of responsibilities. Working with a range of National and International partners we have built up a wide range of Green tourism experience. Before to start trekking, we want our fellow trekkers to know about environmental issues such as to keep the surroundings clean, leave only footprints and take only photographs. Our endeavour is always to keep the place as natural and untouched as possible.