April 26, 2009: Thirty five years after Bhutan shyly welcomed tourists to see the distant snow-caps from urban Thimphu, the six unexplored national parks are opening up its mossy paths for green-trekkers.
Environmentalists are thinking red, warning that allowing tourists to enter the nature hotspots will mar Bhutan’s image as the conservation poster-boy.
But officials say they are aware of false starts elsewhere and are careful about opening up tourists to over 165 species of animals, 770 species of birds, and around 300 species of medicinal plants in the protected park areas.
Bhutan’s national parks are unique as communities live inside along with the golden langur, red panda and the takin.
But according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) all national parks, as far as possible, should be separated from humans.
“Tourism is a good way of generating income but how can a village in the protected areas benefit from the beauty of nature without destroying them in the process?” asked an environment consultant who does projects for international organizations.
Environmentalists said opening protected areas will not be a wise decision on the conservation front.
However, they said if the government implements the strong conservation policies already in place then the opening-up will be good for the communities living in the protected areas.
“If this decision is not maintained in accordance to conservation policies, the parks can go into ruins,” said Nedup Tshering of Bhutan Innovation Community.
Bhutan is opening its protected areas of 16,369 sq.km for community based nature tourism, a decision taken by the Nature Conservation Division (NCD), after much discussion.
The parks constitute 49.5% of the total area of Bhutan. The opening up will enable communities inside the parks to earn cash income as tourists will be encouraged to stay with them and not carry rations or tents.
The NCD will also train local people to become guides and cooks.
“This will help in poverty alleviation as well as help promote conservation of the environment in the country,” said the NCD head, Sonam Wangyal Wang (PhD).
Conservationists will not have to worry if people living in the parks, like the middle-aged woman from Nimshong village in Trongsa, encourage tourists to “leave nothing but only footprints” inside the parks.
“I was surprised to find that this woman followed a group of American tourists just to pick up plastic wrappers they left behind,” Phurba Dorji, a tour guide, recollected an incident from last October as he was leading a group along the Nabji trail in the Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park.
People have been residing in the Bhutanese national parks even before they were declared as national parks, wildlife sanctuaries or any form of protected area.
The Integrated Conservation and Development Program (ICDP) of the NCD will ensure that people living inside the park are stewards of the forest and do not over-exploit resources.
National parks management policies differ from country to country. In some countries such as the United States of America, no permanent residency is allowed inside the national parks. In most European countries nature and people are separated. Indian laws also prohibit residency of people inside the national parks.
But officials with NCD said removing people living in the parks will not be possible and strict laws will govern the exploitation of forest resources like Forest and Nature Conservation Act of 1995.
No large-scale change in land use including commercial logging is allowed in the national parks.
Meanwhile, the number of tourists visiting Bhutan after the eco-tourism project was opened, is increasing, with 4,247 trekkers walking to remote villages.
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