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Thus Sundarban possesses all the key
elements of eco-tourism as listed above. It has one
National Park, three Wildlife Sanctuaries and 4263 sq.
kms. of prime mangrove forest area. The area is so big
that it is sustainable ecologically, sociologically and
culturally. There is a participation of the local
communities in a way that the local communities are
involved in providing facilities to the tourists
visiting Sundarban. The facilities include service as
guide, as launch and speedboat operators, supply of food
to the tourists etc. The eco-tourism in Sundarban so far
has been a low profile venture as not much of civil
structures are constructed and not much of disturbance
is caused to the wildlife habitat. The concept of
eco-tourism fits very well in the existing tourism as
the tourists who go as part of conducted tours of West
Bengal Tourism Development Corporation visit all or some
of the watch towers and interpretation centres set up by
the Forest Department. Such tourists stay either in
launches or in the tourist lodge at Sajnekhali on the
periphery of the forest.
For the purposes of planning the
development strategy and supporting investment plan for
the Indian Sundarban, a broad and inclusive approach to
the definition of eco-tourism may be suggested: “
Styles of tourism that positively respond to the needs
of local communities and enhance the conservation of the
protected areas”. The pattern of development in
tourism in this region should be in and around the
Sundarban Tiger Reserve [STR] and Sundarban Reserve
Forest [SRF] and should be focused on Nature
Tourism. This will be determined largely by the
improvement to the essential tourism products, which
include the unique biosphere and World Heritage Site,
long stretches of firm sea beaches and national
pilgrimage destination etc. of Sundarban. Providing
facilities for movement and halting both to the domestic
and international tourists as well as improvements to
quality of the presentation of these essential products
are the corner stone of success in this venture. The
improvement in these sectors is essentially required the
productive partnerships between public, private and
community stakeholders and to actively foster
development options that favour local participation and
community benefits.
In the recent years, some private
entrepreneurs have started venturing into the field and
it is expected that they would abide by basic principles
of eco-tourism in order to protect the Sundarban on
sustainable basis. It is clear that eco-tourism is the
only industry, which can thrive in Sundarban involving
local communities, at the same time causing no damage to
the environment of this sensitive biosphere. |
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