Tracing Traditional Routes through Tourism – Our Mission 2008
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
“All roads lead to China border”, the Telegraph today headlined an article reporting that “India is sprucing up its frontier with China by taking up a massive four-year project to connect villages, military posts and towns strung on the border across the Himalayas from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.”Few weeks back the “Maitree-Express” to Dhaka was flagged off from Kolkata as the first passenger railway service between India and Bangladesh since 43 years (article in The Hindu). For the East Himalaya the thaw in the border policy is a great chance and a great support to our this year’s mission “Tracing Traditional Routes through Tourism”.
Entering Tibet from Sikkim via Nathu-La Pass, visiting both the Indian and the Bangladesh Sunderbans as one ecosystem by boat, following the Ledo Stillwell Road through the Mishmi Hills of East Arunachal and crossing the Pangsau-Pass into Burma/Myanmar, entering Manas Nationalpark in India after a visit to Bhutan via the Royal Manas Nationalpark, experiencing the rich heritage of Central Bengal with the lost cities of Pandua and Gaur in West-Bengal on the Indian side and the World Heritage Site of Bagerhat in Bangladesh, or tracing Buddhism from Lumbini in Nepal via Bodh Gaia in India and the Somapura Vihara at Paharpur in Bangladesh before re-entering India in the Tripura, where Buddhism flourished from the 2nd to the 9th century, and many important sites are yet to be explored by tourists. The list could continue without losing any attractiveness given the cultural, religious, ethnic and natural diversity and links that characterize the region.
Eight years back we have promoted the “Destination 2000: East and North East India, Nepal, Bhutan & Bangladesh”, and in 2006 we headlined our efforts “Cross-border Conservation through Community Cooperation”. Now, we feel that our 2008 mission “Tracing Traditonal Routes through Tourism” is a vision increasingly being shared.
To revive the old glory of Manas Nationalpark as one of the most diverse areas of the subcontinent – an image that had badly suffered during the times of the Bodos struggle for more autonomy – all available hands were needed. Consequently, when the ecotourism concept for the Manas Maozigendri Area in Bodoland, Assam was drafted the volunteers of the local conservation NGO felt a need not only to welcome visitors to come and see but to actively participate in their work. As a feasible way to achieve this, the visitors have to sign a temporary membership form. The membership system has some basic advantages. The education of tourists, an important component of ecotourism, is well addressed. The guests do not only enjoy the flora and fauna, but also join directly in its conservation. Patrolling on foot, on bicycle, on jeep and sometimes on elephant inside the Nationalpark are part of the tourism package as are monitoring of endangered species – especially the Bengal Florican – in the buffer zone. Instead of big groups that are guided from watchpoint to watchpoint, the visitors are distributed to join small patrolling groups. Thus, the visitors come to see places inside the park that are off the formal routes.
