My Review of a Review: On Ecotourism and the Tiger
It’s dusk. I’m sitting on cold cinderblock with big caramel eyes staring back at me. My friend, my confidant, is a 400 lb. Bengal tiger called Tigg.
We spend these evenings together in his night house before it’s time for me to pack up and head home for the day. Tigg has grown older, but he has fulfilled his role in acting as an ambassador at a small sanctuary in rural Pennsylvania for the conservation of his wild counterparts in India. Everyday I thank him for coming when I call his name so the many tourists trekking through can experience the up close and personal encounter with a Bengal tiger in captivity.
As I head home for the day, I find myself wondering about the wild world and the tigers that live there. What do tourists want to experience when visiting places like India, the home of the Bengal tiger? India is a large country, and with the amount of biodiversity held within its protected areas, the heavy burden of finding a balance between sustainable tourism and Bengal tiger conservation in India falls to conservationists and community members. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature states that the Bengal tiger’s habitat range has declined by more than 50% over the last 25 years, which further suggests a need for more creative approaches for these wild ones.
Ecotourism is one way to couple the drastic need for increased Bengal tiger conservation efforts with creating a benefit for local communities to inspire their own participation in tiger conservation. This type of tourism has been broadly defined as an enlightening form of travel to all types of natural areas; it promotes conservation of the natural world while sustaining the well-being of local communities. It is meant to safeguard the sustainable use of natural resources, to preserve the culture and welfare of the local people, and ultimately benefit the entire region in a multitude of ways. Given the popularity of experiencing the tiger in zoos around the world, it seems likely that ecotourism in India can create a more extensive natural and cultural understanding of the area and enhance conservation efforts and community values on a global scale.
Ecotourism has not always been viewed in a positive light in India, especially by locals. However, the development of ecotourism organizations within protected areas in India has created many benefits and incentives to local community members. These benefits enable increased support by the community towards conservation initiatives. The focus of late has been finding unique approaches to include communities in the planning process. Involving local community members through employment, volunteerism, and plan creation has resulted in the protection of the ecological health and well-being of the Bengal tiger within protected areas in India. Results have shown improved organization and protection of these areas, a decline in resource use by local people, and improvements in overall ecosystem health. Also, the economic benefits are including the construction of social capital within impoverished communities and centered on a long-term means for sustaining these successes.
Integrating ecotourism into communities in India should be a top priority for long-term community support of tiger conservation; this support is critical in reversing the declining Bengal tiger population trend. Finding a balance between ecotourism expansion and community needs and values will be the key to successful Bengal tiger conservation endeavors. India has a long way to go and much to learn from the models of ecotourism in other regions, where an effective balance is obtained between the natural world, local people, and tourists. Future research and efforts should be embedded in balancing conservation and community needs as well as supporting collaborative measures between regions throughout India.
My thoughts on these issues lead me back to that cinderblock night house and evenings with Tigg, who has since passed away from old age. It makes me wonder, though, how Tigg’s life may have been different had there been truly protected, wild areas left for him.
We must come together and expand our current understanding of ecotourism to create unique, collaborative solutions. The increased effort in conserving protected areas and community involvement in this purpose can lead to immeasurable benefits for the Bengal tiger and their diverse ecosystems throughout India. The difference Bengal tigers in captivity acting as ambassadors, like Tigg, make can lead to even greater impacts in the protecting them in the wild.
