Community-based Tourism for Conservation and Development in Shankarpur Village: Concept note for feedback

Ek Raj Sigdel

Shankarpur Village Development Committee (VDC) of Kanchanpur district is situated in between two ecotourism destinations of Nepal; Bardia National Park in the East and Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in the West. The safe and secure village can be reached by driving eight kilometer gravel road towards West from Dhangadi, Kailali and 30 Kilometer gravel road towards South-East from Mahendra Nagar, Kanchanpur.

Over 95% of 761 household are Rana Tharu, local inhabitant of this area as against the only 23% Tharu in the entire district. Rain fed agriculture is the main source of income to over 85% people of this area. Out of the four categories, the VDC falls under third rank in human development index, and first in human poverty index (DDC Kanchanpur, 2005). According to local people, each year two to three Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve destined tourist group pay visit to the area to experience Rana Tharu Culture.

Rana Tharu, who are confined only in Kailali and Kanchapur wear a distinctive short embroidered skirt along with blouses covered with silver coins. They complete their dress-ups with the heavy silver jeweler around their neck and ankles. Similarly, they have unique style of house construction, religion and historic background. The unparallel cultural integrity including dress, food habit and style of celebrating festivals are gradually modernized. Moreover, very little is known about the lifestyle of Ran Tharu (Gurung, 1992*).

In the absence of viable alternative resources, people’s dependency for firewood, fodder and settlement on Laljhadi Corridor has increased rapidly over the years. It resulted in the loss of wildlife habitat of wild elephant and tigers. To safeguard the higher conservation value of this jungle, the government of Nepal has implemented Western Terai Landscape Complex Project (WTLCP) for a few years. The village experienced an intense rainfall followed by an unprecedented amount of flood after 42 years in September, 2008. The flood displaced over 60% people to the fringe area of the Laljhadi Jungle.

On the whole, the village is endowed with rich cultural and biodiversity resources. However these resources are gradually being deteriorated. Now, the village needs programs that address issues of livelihood, culture, climate change and biodiversity simultaneously. In this backdrop, community based tourism would be a viable option. Kanchanpur District Periodic Plan and Landscape Level Ecotourism Plan of the WTLCP recognize this village as a potential tourism site. Besides, recent interaction meeting with local communities including teachers, village leader “Bhalmansa”, youth and conservation activist expressed strong desire to promote village tourism in Shankarpur.

Based on the community consultation and suggestions from various quarters, some activities are to be implemented in Shankarpur in the near future. First, villagers are to be exposed with village tourism sites like Sirubari, Sauraha and Shaktikhor. Second, an interaction meeting is to be held to share study tour experiences with stakeholders including DDC, Journalists, Tourism Board, Kanchanpur District Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI), and private sectors. Third, a feasible study on community based tourism is to be carried out jointly by local community, Nepal Tourism Board and Kanchanpur DCCI. Then, once the report is prepared, it needs to be duly shared with various stakeholders, including Nepal Tourism Board, local and national private sectors, villages and other donors for funding. Finally, the area is to be included in Nepal Tourism Year Program 2011. To put the concept into effect, it needs supports from various quarters.

Acknowledgement
Thanks due to Ex-TRPAP staff members including Mingma Sherpa, Chet Nath Kanel, Ram Hari Devkota and Ramchandra Sedai; Basan Shrestha and Shree Kumar Maharjan for their kind feedback while conceptualizing this report.