Ecotourism as a means of sustaining livelihood, wildlife management and biodiversity conservation-a case in nameri national park of Assam: India

Community-based Ecotourism (CBET) has been gaining credibility as an emerging concept. It is being debated upon as important tool for economic upliftment of communities that have something to offer to fill a tourist’s desire for its uniqueness. Ecotourism have always been deemed as important resources for livelihood among the communities reside nearby protected areas. Here an attempt has been made to evaluate the ecotourism initiatives in Nameri National Park that have been introduce by Assam (Bhorelli) Angling and Conservation Association (ABACA), an organization started nature-based tourism ventures in the year 1956 benefiting local populace in terms of income, improved infrastructure, employment opportunities and exposure. The community’s capacity to facilitate resource related conflicts has improved following support from development institutions and facilities provided by the organization. An expanding livelihood base and sustainable biodiversity management measures is reducing local vulnerability of resources and man-animal conflicts. The present reserach is based on data collected using semi-structured interviwes, and update using information gathered during successive local meetings. A process of tringualtion was ensured where by key informants and focus group were interviewed and different sites (e.g. homestead, ecocamp, village market, river bank and in the forest) visited. Snowball sampling procedure was used to collect information. Interview questions touched on livelihood options, wildlife conservation, and tourist resource management. Despite the conventional practice, there is evidence that the numbers of wildlife (including charismatic species) in the park have either remained stable or increased. The number of White Winged Wood Duck (cairina scutulata) a critically endengered avian species stands at 424, having risen from almost few at the time of project inception in 1981. Elephant, bird species and bush-loving wildlife have more than doubled following the increase in biomass and anti-poaching campaigns spearheaded by community reside near by the park. This paper tries to highlight on the community-based ecotourism that implies sustainable management initiatives and its impact of on livelihood in the fringe of Nameri National Park.