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Bhubaneswar, Dec 27: Indigenous forest dwellers must be taken into account to develop wild life tourism in the state, said delegates, including forest authorities, environmentalists and private tour operators, at a workshop in the city Saturday.
The workshop on ‘Prioritising sustainable ecotourism in Orissa’ saw around 50 delegates debating on ways to develop ecotourism. Some vociferous tour operators asked forest officials to make more space for private players while exploring the potential of eco tourism.
“It’s a black spot on Orissa tourism that such few foreign tourists are visiting its tourist destination,” said a tour operator after principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) SS Srivastava gave a presentation on the number of domestic and foreign tourists who visited the wildlife reserves in the state last year.
“Your data shows that against 23,583 domestic tourists, only 26 foreigners visited the Similipal Wildlife Sanctuary this year. Unless you give tour operators entry into the field of wildlife tourism,
it’s not going to change,” said the tour operator.The incident of molestation of Jarawa tribals in Andaman Nicobar was
also blown out of proportion by the media, he said.
Monalisa Bhujbal, a member of the state ecotourism board, took a dig at the tour operator. “Instead of building new infrastructure in protected areas, we are trying to support existing ones in the form of forest dwellers’ homes that can be used for accommodation. We had this model working well for Madhugiri and hopefully it can succeed in other areas as well,” Bhujbal said.
“The forest dwellers should not be given only catering work but should also be involved in policy making. They should be asked about ways to attract more tourists,” said Meena Das, who runs an ecological society.
Earlier, opening the workshop with a paper on ‘Unlocking the potential of ecotourism in Orissa’, Srivastava showed that wildlife destinations such as Similipal Wildlife Sanctuary and Satkosia Tiger Reserve can be developed for eco-tourism. He also sought suggestions from the audience for other destinations that can be developed for ecotourism.
Authorities should take into account the poor connectivity to the destination while chalking out plans to develop ecotourism, said chief conservator of forest, Bhubaneswar Circle, Rebecca Nair.
“If a tourist lands in Bhubaneswar, the first things he or she would need is regular and comfortable transportation to reach the destination. The second is someone who can guide him or her about where and how to go,” said Nair.
The panel later discussed the emerging trends in eco-tourism and partnerships with stakeholders for developing ecotourism.
