IS CONSERVATION POSSIBLE

THROUGH TOURISM?

A CASE STUDY
ON
LAOKHOWA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
 INTRODUCTION

 Assam is one of the best destinations, where one

can encounter a great variety of wildlife. It forms
part of a global bio-diversity ‘hotspot’.
 The five National parks, seventeen wildlife
sanctuaries and three bird sanctuaries are the
treasure house where a large number of rare flora
and fauna could be seen. About 180 species of
mammals found in Assam which are globally
endangered. Among them 800 species of birds and
195 species of reptiles are found in Assam.
• Wildlifetourism can be broadly defined as
trips to destinations with the main purpose
of visit being to observe the local fauna.
•The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for
Sustainable Tourism (2001) describes
wildlife tourism as “tourism that involves
encounters with non-domesticated animals
either in their natural environment or in
captivity.
•Historically, wildlife refers only to some
game species (almost exclusively birds,
mammals, and fish) that people hunt.
 The types of wildlife Tourism

Aquariums & marine

Hunting Vacations Attractions with a strong
Traditional Zoos emphasis on entertainment
including fishing

Wildlife themed holiday Attractions that focus on one type

Packages & safaris of wildlife such as butterflies
WILDLIFE TOURISM or insects

Trekking, walking, riding &

Watching wildlife at sea Cycling holidays in natural
e.g, whale, watching trips setting

Modern Zoos & safari parks

Special event wildlife tourism, such as

Watching the seasonal migration Natural reserves with facilities for visitors
Of birds
STUDY AREA
 Covering an area of 70.13 sq. kms.
 25 km from Nagaon town and just 40 km
downstream from Kaziranga national park.
 Located on the southern bank of Brahmaputra
River.
 The oldest protected areas of the state.
 Declared as Game Sanctuary way back in 1922
and as a Wild Life Sanctuary in 1979.
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

 a) To find out the tourism potentialities of the

sanctuary.
 b) To study the local people view on the
sanctuary and their knowledge about tourism.
 c) Try to find out that is conservation
possible tourism?
 d) To suggest measures for the future
development.
Problems Related to the Sanctuary
 Lack of local people participation.
 High flood in every year.
 Easy source of earning from the sanctuary
 Weakness of the authority
 Poor connectivity
 Poverty
 Lack of awareness and conservation Programme
 Lack of higher education
 High movement of anti social group.
 Lack of alternative source of income
What can Tourism do?
 a) tourism generates foreign exchange. The substantial foreign currency
earned helps to save on imports thus making valuable contributions to
domestic tourism requirements;
 b) tourism generates local employment both directly in the tourism sector
and in the various support and resource management sectors;
 c) tourism stimulates profitable domestic industries in hotels, restaurants,
transport systems, souvenirs and handicrafts, and guides;
 d) tourism diversifies the local economy, particularly in rural areas where
cultural employment may be sporadic or insufficient. The benefits of
tourism are diffused throughout the economy, many with multiplier effects,
so that it is difficult to evaluate accurately their contribution;
 e) tourism stimulates the rural economy by creating demand for
agricultural produce and injecting capital;
 f) tourism stimulates improvements to local transportation and
communications infrastructures, which brings benefits to local people;
Cont….
 g) tourism encourages governments to provide extra resources for
promoting development areas surrounding PAs;
 h) tourism encourages productive use of land which is marginal for
agriculture, enabling large tracts of land to remain covered in natural
vegetation;
 i) tourism improves intercultural understanding and global communication;
 j) tourism promotes development of recreational facilities which may be
used by local communities as well as domestic and foreign visitors;
 k) tourism prompts conservation by convincing government officials and
the general public of the importance of natural areas;
 l) if adequately conducted, tourism can provide a self-financing mechanism
for the PA authorities and consequently serve as a tool for conservation of
the natural heritage;
 m) if properly planned and managed, tourism is both a non-polluting and
renewable industry. This is what ecotourism is all about.
RESEARCH QUESTION

 a) Why Laokhowa is not famous among the tourist?

 b) What are the problems associated with the
Sanctuary?
 c) Is their available sufficient facility for tourist?
 Is it possible that through tourism development we
can stop the degradation of wildlife sanctuary?
METHODOLOGY

 The whole paper is developed on the bases of primary

and secondary data. The primary data were collected
by designing questionnaires according to the
objective and research question.
 A description of the research methodology followed
in course of the study is presented in this chapter
under the following heads-
1] Pre-Field Work
2] Field Work
SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
 Now-a-days wildlife tourism has played a vital role in
the field of tourism industry. People like to spend
their holidays or weekend in such a natural place
which is free from any kind of pollution and also far
from daily busy life.
 In Assam there are lots of such natural place
existing from east to west and north to south. Five
national parks and seventeen wild life sanctuaries
also fall under this range. Among them we can
establish Laokhowa wildlife sanctuary as an
important wildlife tourist destination for all season.
REFERENCES

 P. Bhattacharya, in “Tourism in Assam” on

Laokhowa wildlife sanctuary.
 R. Chandra, in “Wildlife & Ecotourism” on
trend, issues & challenges.
 B. S. Badan & Harish Bhatt in “Adventure
Tourism” on wildlife adventure tourism.
Presented by..

DIPANKAR BHARALI
TPP DONER
Roll No-08