I believe it is a good idea to do benchmarking; after all, life is all about change for the better. In the IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 1 Issue XI (http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-1-issue-xi), I had done a comparison between wildlife sanctuaries in India and Africa focusing on the size. Continuing with the efforts in analyzing best practices from Africa, in this edition we focus on eco-tourism.

Ecotourism:
Ecotourism is a much reviled concept in India. Most often the word is used liberally and twisted to suit the needs of different groups like forest department, NGOs, settlers in a wilderness area etc.

IUCN has defined ecotourism, as “environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy, study and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features – both past and present), that promotes conservation, has low negative visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations”.

Ecotourism has got different degrees of success around the world. Like any other tool, it has its own limitations and is definitely not the panacea of all ills afflicting our wilderness areas. Let us look at ecotourism as it is practiced or preached in India.

Do we have an ecotourism strategy? What do we expect from ecotourism? Have we done any objective setting for ecotourism in India?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. The sporadic efforts of some genuinely interested individuals and groups may have resulted in a few so called “successful” ecotourism operations. However, as a country we are groping in the dark.

In sharp contrast Botswana, one of the poorest countries in Africa (as far as measurement of economy in the traditional method is concerned) has defined its ecotourism strategy and objectives. It would be pertinent to mention that Botswana has got 37% (thirty seven percent) of its landmass in National Parks, Nature Reserves and Wildlife Management Areas. Ecotourism objectives of Botswana:

• Minimizing negative social, cultural and environmental impacts.
• Maximizing the involvement in, and the equitable distribution of economic benefits to, host communities.
• Maximizing revenues for re-investment in conservation.
• Educating both visitors and local people as to the importance of conserving natural and cultural resources
• Delivering a quality experience for tourists

Where do we stand if we analyse ourselves with a similar set of objectives?

How environment friendly is our ecotourism?
There are too many groups to talk about social and cultural impact. I would limit my observations to the environmental impact.

• Do we use energy and water conservation technologies to save our precious resources?
• Do we use local design and construction methods?
• Do we practice responsible waste management measures?
• How do we eliminate hazardous materials, pesticides, phosphate based cleaners, solvents, Volatile organic compounds etc?
• Do we assess life-cycle environmental impacts of all building materials and purchases associated with ongoing operations and maintenance
• Fresh food purchased locally?

The answer is obviously in the negative for the above points except for a few resorts purchasing some of their vegetables locally. The reasons are many and some of those are structural issues.

Priority areas:
In Okavango for example, they have an Okavango Core Tourism Development Area where low volume, low intensity and high value tourism is planned. In the areas bordering the Core Tourism Development Area, the volume and intensity of tourism allowed is higher. So their ecologically fragile areas don’t have to bear the vagaries of mass tourism. Unfortunately, in our case, there is very little differentiation of our areas with respect to tourism. The core areas are virtually inviolate to tourists, except for people who surreptitiously sneak in with the help of forest department officials. So everybody strives to flock to the Tala zone in Bandhavgarh and not to the other areas. Earlier it was free for all, but now the number of vehicles allowed into the 100 sq. kilometers of Tala zone is capped at 50 ie. about one vehicle every 2 square kilometers. So a naturalist or serious wildlife photographer has to literally jostle for space with an individual – liberally doused with perfume – who cannot distinguish between a gaur and a rhino.

They are conscious about the impact of tourism support infrastructure that comes up in an area. Unfortunately, we are not. So a Tala village in Bandhavgarh National Park, from 6 families has now grown into a small township. Same is the case with Ramanagar near Corbett National Park to name a few examples. A number of such examples abound.

In Botswana, the ecotourism operator needs to be registered and follow all the laws of the land. Same is the case in Malaysia where a tour guide has a license and an identity card. That helps in ensuring quality of service. In India, anyone can proclaim himself to be an expert and offer his services. For example, a tour operator who ran over a tiger cub, was running a hotel without naming it so.

In Botswana, the eco tourism operator must demonstrate that responsible professionals have performed the EIA (Environment Impact analysis). In India, EIA for projects involving industries, dams, canals, roads etc is a joke. So I am not sure how seriously EIA can be done for ecotourism. The Uttarakhand Government has now announced that new hotels will only be allowed to be set up near Corbett after due diligence. We must understand that once a resort, hotel etc comes up in an ecologically fragile place, the loss would be irreversible. Rare species of plants, animals, and insects can be locally exterminated, and landscape altered forever.

Community Participation:

One of the theoretical benefits of ecotourism, is to maximize the involvement of communities in ecotourism and the equitable distribution of economic benefits. Unfortunately, apart from menial jobs, the local communities have very less role to play in the ecotourism as it is practiced today in India.

It is obvious that the traditional communities won’t be always in sync with the expectations of the tourists and the best practices worldwide. Cooperatives should be formed by traditional communities and Tour operators with experience can get into management contracts with them. The traditional communities, knowledgeable in jungle craft can put their knowledge to good use. The others – not versed in the jungle craft -can get gainful employment in the ecotourism sector with some training. This would help in the traditional communities living in the periphery of the wilderness areas (after resettlement from the core areas) to value the wilderness areas better.

The tourism enterprise should purchase groceries, fruits, vegetables etc if locally available. However, this should not induce local communities to clear up forest areas for cultivation. That is the tourism should not lead to mushrooming of tourism support infrastructure and increase in environmental footprint. One third of India’s forest areas have been encroached in the last two decades. For further details you need to check here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3539

It is imperative that the Government comes up with an adequate legislation and detailed guidelines to regulate tourism to not only protect our wilderness places from devastation, but also ensure equitable distribution of the gains. The following needs to be ensured:

Ecotourism Operators: Everybody wants to jump into ecotourism. Due diligence should be carried out before allowing any groups or individuals to set up resorts in sensitive areas. The individuals, groups, organizations entering into this field should show their commitment to recruit the right kind of resources, adopt best practices etc. It is difficult for these individuals or groups to learn and adopt the best practices from worldwide. So the Government may help them in enriching their knowledge from time to time by creating a best practices compendium, organizing seminars etc.
Where: our tourism operators are crowded around a few places. In the absence of any legislation, our tourism operators will only move to well established areas. It is perhaps human nature that people will only pick up the low hanging fruit first. For example, when CC Africa (a group well known for its ecotourism practices in Africa) set up its operations in India along with Taj (India’s one of the top most ethical organization); they set up their operations in well known areas like Kanha, Bandhavgarh etc instead of venturing into little known places. In sharp contrast, Jungle Lodges, a unit of Govt. of Karnataka’s Tourism Department, popularized BR Hills as a wildlife destination after setting up their resort in a relatively unknown place like K Gudi. New areas should be identified, the carrying capacity measured and tourist operators invited to set up their services in a controlled manner.

How:

• EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) done by reputed professionals and open to public scrutiny. There should be annual Environment Impact Assessment of the resort.
• Local construction materials used. The design should be in sync with the landscape. The construction should be based on the local conditions like weather, fragile environment, water scarcity etc. Brick-and-mortar resorts should be avoided in environmentally sensitive areas.
• A cradle to grave approach should be used to monitor the entire lifecycle of all materials used in construction.
• The resort should have a knowledgeable ecologist/ naturalist as part of the team.
• Traditional crafts and culture should be promoted.
• In case the land is already degraded, the resort should take action to restore it along with its original vegetation.
• The Government should create a list of plants and trees in each area and make it mandatory for the resorts to adhere to it. The ecotourism site should be landscaped with vegetation native to that area.
• Air-conditioners go against the grain of Ecotourism. The use of local materials, natural ventilation and local trees shading the cottages would help in removing the requirement of air conditioners.
• Light pollution should be minimized by designing appropriate lighting.
• Energy conservation should be prioritized. Renewable energy, especially solar energy should be used in the ecotourism facilities. The Government should provide adequate subsidies. A monitoring mechanism should be set up. Solar panels should be used for both, heat water as well as generate electricity for select appliances such as fans, lights, and kitchen equipment, water heating etc. Occupancy sensors should be used to cut down on unnecessary electricity consumption.
• It is estimated that approximately 30% water use in resorts is used for toilet flushing. Low flush toilets should be used to cut down on the water requirements.
• All cleaners, polishes and pesticide must be biodegradable, noncorrosive, non toxic and phosphate-free.
• All buildings should be connected by raised walkways to prevent vegetation from being trampled. Ground cover and other plant and animal life continues to flourish underneath the raised walkways and tent-cabins, and the trees and vegetation whose lives we spared return the favor by protecting us and our guests from the hot tropical sun. A similar structure is present in the White Tiger Lodge in Bandhavgarh.

Conservation:
Oil spill threatens Olive Ridley Turtles Orissa
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3653
This is the second oil spill in Orissa coast in the last few months. First it was from the Mongolian ship in Paradip Port and now from the Essar Oil ship in Gopalpur port. It doesn’t require crystal gazing to know that oil spill can happen from the proposed port at Dhamra in the coast of Orissa and wipe out olive ridley turtles in Gahirmatha beach.

93% of Wild medicinal plants in endangered list
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3589

Wilderness Updates:
Forest guard dies in hunter’s attack in Thamarassery:
Please spare a thought to the challenges faced by our forest guards, frontline warriors protecting our wilderness areas.
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3570

Free flow for Bhagirathi as Government shelves two dams:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3520

Wildlife Photography
Some of the fine natural history moments recorded by our members:
Pair by Praveen P Mohandas
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3417
Tigress Yawning by Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3504
Happy Family by Praveen P Mohandas
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3416
Orange Headed Thrush by Amit Kalele
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3578
A wall of water by Mrudul Godbole
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3450
Is it effect of global warming by Mahesh Trivedi
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3463
Ghost of the Darkness by Nikhilesh Mahakur
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3461

Look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Twitter: indiawilds
Facebook: indiawilds

It’s been three long years, since I had this amazing experience. It was the summer of 2005. Surjit called me to ask if I would be able to join him on a trip to Malani in Corbett National Park. I had not been to this part of Corbett National Park before and readily agreed. Sambit and Balu also joined us to make it a big party.

 The Malani forest rest house is located on a cliff overlooking a stream flowing below. As is the nature of these streams, the monsoon season sees it at its ferocious best and at other times of the year, the flow reduces to a trickle making pools of water here and there for the kingfisher to hunt or the langurs, deers and elephants to drink. When all these animals are there, how can be the king of the jungle be far behind? The tiger is seen cooling off in a small pool in this stream in the summer months.

Coming back to the story, we bought some fresh eggs, bread etc to add to the provisions we had procured from Delhi. The forest rest house doesn’t have a canteen, so visitors have to carry their own provisions if they expect to eat. We reached the rest house and handed over the groceries. We were hungry but rather than waiting for the meals to be prepared, we had some light snacks and moved on for the afternoon safari.

Sambit was in a jungle for the first time, and was pretty excited. We found deers and Sambars grazing or resting in the shade. Surjit was photographing them. I was on the look out for any signs of the tiger. We found lot of pugmarks in the dry river bed and then at a distance we found some tourists in a jeep. It took us some time to make out the outline of the sleeping tiger. The tiger rolled over and yawned. After a few yawns, the tiger got up and started walking and we could see that it was an adolescent one. It seemed to have had little success in hunting in the last few days as it appeared to be famished. The tiger soon crossed the dry stream and vanished into the undergrowth.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. We returned back to the forest rest house happy sighting a tiger. I was feeling good thinking that on every trip to Corbett National Park, I have sighted a tiger. Our tired but excited spirits soon got a boost with hot cups of tea.

Within half an hour the dinner was ready. Though it was hardly seven in the evening, we were pretty hungry and devoured the food. Surjit and I came out of the forest rest house to feel the evening air. The forest rest house is located at the base of the hill in a clearing of about a football field and half in length and breadth. The stream flowing in front of it, has carved a steep drop of fifteen to twenty meters at places. The forest department staff has made a gradual slope to approach the stream in front of the forest rest house. About fifteen feet in front of the forest rest house there was a tree, which is no longer there, and the base of it was cemented to create a rectangular platform of about fifteen feet by ten feet. We pulled two chairs and placed it below the tree in the compound. The edge of the forest is about a further thirty feet away sloping down into the stream. Towards the left the forest starts hundred feet away from the tree. Towards the right is the approach road and the clearing is about the length of a football field. Soon Sambit joined us by pulling a chair and placing it after me and closer to the edge of the forest. We were seated in a semi circular manner facing the approach road.

It was a moonless night and for the first hour it was pitch dark. We were enjoying the chill breeze and listening to the soft murmur of the flowing stream. We were happy having sighted the tiger and were discussing its emancipated state. Sambit was very happy on having sighted his first tiger on his first visit to the jungle. It is natural to be excited to watch God’s most magnificent creation in the wild. Sambit was telling us that he would definitely come back to this place with his wife. The deers were grazing in the compound. We could make out their blurred shapes at times and could here the sound of their grazing or occasional movement.

The playful banter came to an abrupt halt when we heard the sound of a twig cracking from the direction of the stream about 40 feet away. We were staring intently into the darkness towards the source of the sound, knowing fully well that it was done either by a tiger or a leopard. Sambit till that moment was blissfully unaware about our sudden alertness. The crickets had stopped chirping – there was an oppressive silence as if the entire jungle is watching with bated breath. Several minutes passed by and then suddenly the silence was pierced by a sharp alarm call about 30-40 feet in front of us. Even though we were alert, the sharp call, its proximity and the silent jungle gave it a sinister meaning. Till that moment, Sambit had never heard an alarm call in his life. He had no inkling about it and was so startled that he would have fallen from his chair had I not caught hold of him. A man with a weaker heart could have got a heart attack in such a situation. For Sambit it was too much to handle. He got up and shifted his chair to a position behind Surjit and closer to the Forest Rest house.

Clearly, the tiger was trying to hunt the deer barely few meters in front of us. Surjit suggested that it was too dangerous to be out in the open in the midst of the hunt and got up to move the chair closer to the wall of the Forest Rest House. We did so and realized that Sambit had vanished. He had got inside the Forest Rest house and had locked the door. We were straining our eyes to see any signs of the predator. At times we could see the white portion of the belly when the light of few stars could shine through the clouds. At times we could make out the outline of the deers. They had come closer to us. It seems the deers thought that coming closer to us might save from getting killed.

We kept on listening to the sounds as hardly anything was visible, breathing slowly through our mouth without making any sound. All our senses were in high alert mode. Minutes kept on ticking. After about half an hour or so, suddenly there was a sound of a charge. We could hear an animal abruptly run from left to right from a point about 30 feet straight in front of us. We knew the tiger is charging. However, we were shaken up when within a couple of seconds, there was another charge from right to left from the same point. All along, we were under the impression that there was one tiger. But it was physically impossible for a tiger to start a charge from the same point within a couple of seconds. We kept on straining our eyes to see any signs. And then soon the crickets started chirping again and the jungle came back to normal. We knew the predators are not there any more in the compound. I looked at the watch, and this experience had lasted forty five minutes.

After some time we got up and asked Sambit to open the door and we retired for the night. I was again woken up from sleep at the sound of an alarm call. It was 1.30 am in the night and the tiger was near the forest rest house again. I tried to listen for further sounds but didn’t know when I fell asleep. The next day we got up before dawn. Two tigers were roaring and answering each other at a distance from the forest rest house.

We had not taken a single photograph that night, but it was one of our most memorable tiger experiences. It gave a huge jolt to my ego. Despite several decades of tiger watching and studying, I could not know that there were two tigers in front of the forest rest house barely 30 feet away. It was a humbling experience as well. It teaches us that how ever experienced you might be, we are still scratching at the surface. Learning a single paragraph in a lifetime from the enormous book of nature, would be a big achievement.  

Spotting wildlife

IT MUST HAVE BEEN LUCK !!??

 I have often come across people, who after viewing my photographs or listening to my experiences of seeing the tiger in its true habitat, exclaim that I have been lucky. I believe that if you come across a tiger in a jungle, then you are lucky, but more often than not, you create your own luck i.e., learn to respect the jungle and its inhabitants, and most of all understand Mother Nature.  

Spotting wildlife is becoming increasingly difficult these days, due to the indiscriminate destruction of habitat and poaching of wild animals. In the days of the Raj, when herbivorous animals were in abundance, small patches of forests used to hold large number of carnivores, like the tiger and leopard. Today, even in National Parks, sighting carnivores is difficult and watching a tiger is becoming rare. In such circumstances, your patience and perseverance is tested to the core. I have heard tourists, roaming around in open jeeps in the jungle, complain that they didn’t get to see a single tiger, and the forest doesn’t seem to have tigers etc. The tourists invariably blame their own luck when they hear that some one else had seen a tiger somewhere in the jungle.  

Do we need to attribute our successes and blame our failures in spotting a tiger to lady luck? Or is there something else, beyond luck?  

In India, the forests are mostly dense, unlike Africa where you find vast tracts of grass lands. It is difficult to spot a tiger in such a scenario. Nature has given tiger such a beautiful camouflage, the black stripes help in breaking the outline of the body, and it merges with the fallen leaves and dense foliage very easily.  

Wild animals by nature remain very still when required. With evolution, the human sense of sight, smell and hearing have become very feeble, when compared to wild animals. Tiger has evolved so that it makes very little noise. The tiger has soft pads in its feet, which helps it in walking virtually noiselessly in the jungle. There may be an occasional twig that will crack under the weight of the tiger or a gentle rustle of the leaves when the tiger moves through the bush, but these are very few and too feeble to pick up when you are moving in a jeep. Added to it is the fact that the vehicles often creak and groan in the bumpy jungle roads. To make matters worse, most of us city dwellers have a tendency to engage in incessant chatter inside the jungle.  

I have often been amused, and irritated by the proclivity of people to talk loudly when they are in a jungle. I wonder whether the cause is their irrational fear of the animals, which stems from the stories of the so called ‘blood-curdling beasts’ of the jungle, or some other reason. The bright attire with liberal dose of perfumes, deodorants etc ensures that animals sense human presence much before the tourists senses the presence of the animal, and as a consequence either completely disappear or maintain respectable distance from us.  

In some of the National Parks like Ranthambhore National Park, tourists are allowed entry in a bus called ‘Canter’. These Canters, with tourists, who most often don’t understand that there is a difference between Zoo and a National Park, often disregard the requests of the driver and guide to maintain silence. It is futile to expect such a group of people to remain silent for a long time. No wonder, that these tourists most of the times fail to sight the tiger.  

In the jungle, the best way to track the tiger or other carnivores is to understand the language of denizens of the jungle and read the tell-tale signs that are there. A few basic rules, if followed precisely, could go a long way in sighting the animals:  

1) The footprints of animals can be found imprinted in the soft sand, mud etc. A sure sign that the animal has crossed this area. A keen eye, a little bit of knowledge about the jungle, and above all, real love for nature can help in predicting the time of the imprint. One can also gauge the relative speed at which the animal had been walking during that time. Knowledgeable jungle folk can predict the next movements of the animal based on experience.  

2) A number of animals and birds give an alarm call when they see or smell a carnivore. Following the alarm calls of deer, sambar, muntjac, monkeys and birds like drongo and Indian Cuckoo, one can tell the position of the tiger. If you are able to interpret these calls, then you would understand what the tiger is doing and then plan your move accordingly.  

Once, early in the morning, in Corbett National Park, several summers ago, I saw a solitary red-headed vulture, sitting on a tree near a stream. I asked my driver to park the vehicle and wait. The driver doubted whether there was a tiger near by. The presence of a vulture, which was looking down intently, made me sure that it was an indication of the presence of a kill and the possible presence of a carnivore. 

We were in an open jeep, the summer sun beating down on us, the intensity of the heat increasing every moment, sweat slowly trickling down our collars and flies bothering us, making the wait unbearable, and to the uninitiated, probably quite futile.  I knew for sure, that if there was a tiger hiding in the foliage, it would, sooner or later, come out or at least make a movement betraying its presence. Normally flies bother the tiger and it moves or shifts its position to ward of the nuisance of the flies. Suddenly, I could see the tip of the tail of the tiger as it shifted its position. My assessment proved to be correct, that the tiger had killed some animal and was resting there guarding its kill after a heavy meal.  

The tiger drinks water at regular intervals after a heavy meal. In the summer, the tiger also loves to cool off in water. So I knew sooner or later the tiger will definitely come out. We were on the banks of the Ramganga River and the April heat had dried the river considerable, leaving small ponds as watering holes scattered all over the place. Several tourist vehicles passed us, each enquiring about the reason behind our stoppage – some of them waited for a brief moment before deciding to move ahead. A couple of these tourist vehicles when they discovered that we have been waiting for a long time, cynically commented whether they would order lunch to be sent for us.  

The minutes dragged by, stretching into hours, till finally, after more than three hours the tiger decided to get up. The intense heat made the wait seem far longer, except for the fact that I had checked my watch.  The tiger got up from the bush behind the nullah and walked about fifty yards to enter a pool of water. The bulging stomach of the tiger and blood on the face and leisurely walk to the pool suggested a heavy meal.

Had I not read the tell-tale signs of the tigers presence -the  king vulture, the  two crows on branches of a tree, an approaching peacock suddenly getting alarmed and taking to flight near the tree – I would not have spent three hours waiting for the tiger and definitely would have missed him when he came out and entered the pool. 

Watching wildlife has more to do with reading the signs of the jungle and perseverance and to a lesser degree on luck. You must remember that though you are in the jungle to watch the tiger, actually you are the one who is watched. The elusive king of the jungle will only make an appearance at its own sweet will. So watching a tiger in the Jungle is an extremely fortunate occasion. However, you can increase your chances of sighting the majestic tiger if you make an effort to interpret the signs and language of nature and persevere in your efforts.