BANGALORE: Following the draft guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), the state Forest Department is gearing up to develop ecotourism in and around protected areas.Speaking to Express, Dr Swaminath M H, additional principal chief conservator of Forests (Wildlife) said, “We have received a copy of the guidelines yesterday. We will soon be holding discussions with concerned forest officials, environmentalists and tour operators and design a required plan.” Presently, Karnataka has about 23 wildlife sanctuaries, five national parks and six tiger reserves which have been identified as protected areas, he said.The guidelines enumerates the planning, development, implementation and monitoring procedure of eco-tourism in the country.Besides, the state government has to develop statelevel eco-tourism strategies and plans. The chief wildlife warden of the state must ensure that each protected area prepares an eco-tourism plan, as part of their annual conservation and protection plan. A site specific eco-tourism plan for each protected area must be prepared and approved by the government by December 31, 2011, and put in the public domain in local language.In addition, a Local Advisory Committee (LAC) must be constituted for each protected area by the state government.Further, state level steering committee should be constituted to represent local communities, living in and around protected areas, tribal welfare department, Panchayat Raj Institution and Civil Society Institutions.It is mandatory to make provisions to ensure that eco-tourism does not get relegated to purely high-end, exclusive tourism, leaving out local communities. No new tourist facilities can be set up on forest lands according to the law.
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