Planning and Implementation of Ecotourism in Valmiki Tiger Reserve

Tourism in Valmiki Tiger Reserve is in very nascent stage.However, there is occasional congregation of pilgrims at Valmikinagar, a small township at the westernmost side of the tiger reserve. In the light of recent initiatives taken by the state government to promote eco-tourism in the reserve, inflow of tourists is bound to increase in the coming years. It is high time to assess the potential of promoting community based ecotourism since majority of people around the reserve are poor and very limited options for livelihood and employment are available to them. After declaration of the forest as tiger reserve, legal extraction of forest resources has been banned. It is important to compensate the loss to villagers through some other way so that they could continue their support to conservation. Here, ecotourism can play an important role in generating benefits for the villagers. Keeping in mind the above situation, the present study broadly focused on exploring the community based tourism potentials of the reserve and assessing the impacts that could be on the local environment and resources as a result of increased tourism.