Communitybased Tourism Value Addition for snow leopards and

Community-based Tourism: Value Addition for snow leopards and their stewardship

Hemis National Park Ladakh, India

Profitable & Environmentally Friendly Parachute Cafés encourage local people to protect & value wildlife Solar-cooker for safe drinking water…. saving scarce fuel wood

Himalayan Homestays Experience Traditional Life in a Himalayan Village Rumbak Village Hemis National Park, Ladakh www. himalayan-homestays. com

Household Income Benefits Example of Hemis National Park, Ladakh, India • Benefits over 100 households in 20 communities, including 40 in prime snow leopard habitat • Average income earned by homestay households increased by 49% in 3 years (USD $752 in 2007 to $1, 127 in 2009) • Additional USD 400 in income from sales earned from 8 tented cafes along trekking routes, shared 4 -8 families. • Tourist visitation increased from 37 bed-nights in 2001 to over 700 in 2007, 854 in 2008, and 634 in 2009. • 78 per cent of homestay visitors rated quality as excellent ; 20% as good; overall satisfaction 88 per cent in 2010.

Community planning from the bottom up The 4 “D’s” 1. 2. 3. 4. DISCOVER DREAM DESIGN DELIVER

Typical Planning Exercise: Ranking of Mortality Sources (Participants don’t need to know how to read or write)

How villagers use extra income from Homestays • Send children to better schools • Re-invest in Homestays & parachute cafes (furniture, solar showers, handicrafts) • Plant trees & fodder to reduce grazing in wildlife areas • Village clean-up campaign

Conservation Benefits • 10– 15 % of homestay profits deposited in Village Fund supporting conservation • Initially provided indirect conservation benefits (e. g. , garbage management and stupa painting). • After four years, communities became more proactive with the establishment of “village wildlife reserved area” for threatened Tibetan argali sheep (Ovis ammon hodgsonii) Other activities supported: • Construction of predator-proof corrals • Hiring fulltime herder to guard communal livestock herds in summer pastures • Co-financed Insurance Program for large-bodied, high-valued livestock (yak) through a national insurance programme

Best Practices Factors important to success include : Transparency of key decisions § Support of government department responsible for wildlife conservation § Broad stakeholder participation at all stages (planning , implementation & monitoring) builds community confidence and ownership § Involvement of private sector (e. g. , local travel agents), and government in the initial. • Include as many households as possible in supplementary tourism initiatives for maximizing cost sharing & benefits • Women and youth can play a leading role as hosts and guides in homestay and wildlife tourism. Women’s groups best suited to managing homestays • Establish clear linkages between tourism support and snow leopard conservation

National Geographic Adventure Photo: Jan Fleischmann Sign up at SLC booth for this winter’s Karma. Quest trip!

13 20 12 20 20 20 Photo: Karen Czekalski 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 08 Number of Sightings Snow Leopards seen on SLC Karma. Quest Winter Trips

Lessons learned • Only when tangible economic returns are realised are communities willing & financially able to become solid conservation partners and environmental stewards. • Accordingly, community-managed conservation is more successful if linked to opportunities to earn income (from rural tourism, improved & sustainable livestock production, on-farm and off-farm job skills development • The existence of a relatively homogeneous, cohesive community helped to equalize competition and encouraged willingness to share the benefits of tourism and external investment. • Donors, NGO’s and government must expand engagement & capacity building from current 2 -3 years to more realistic 5 -10 years. • Communities must be empowered to act (e. g. , resolve land-tenure issues) and held responsible (transparent decision-making process based on sound resource information)

Challenges & Pitfalls - Rural Tourism Initiatives • High leakage of revenues (international - outside travel agents etc) • Feast or famine? Visitation rates vary year to year; budget travelers dominate, travel agents may limit homestays to maintain their profit margin higher • Not all households capable of offering homestays • Tourists have other interests, not just wildlife or culture • Unanticipated negative environmental impacts of tourism • Relatively high set-up cost (training, quality control, equitable access etc)

For more information Websites: • • Jammu & Kashmir Wildlife Protection Department: www. jkwildlife. com/ Snow Leopard Conservancy USA: www. snowleopardconservancy. org/ Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust www. snowleopardhimalayas. org Himalayan Homestays website: www. himalayan-homestays. com/ SEE also: www. wildaltai. org Source of Information: Lama, WB. , R. Jackson and R. Wangchuk. 2012. Snow Leopards and Himalayan Homestays: catalysts for community-based conservation in Ladakh. In: Mountain Biodiversity Conservation and Management: selected examples of good practices and lessons learned from the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region. Chettri, N. , U. Sherchan, S. Chaudhary, and B. Shakya (editors). Working Paper 2012/2, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Nepal.