Kerala: An Eco-Tourism Haven

Eco-tourism is a purposeful travel to natural areas to understand the cultural and biological diversity of a place, taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem, while producing economic opportunities beneficial to local people. The term Eco-tourism was coined in 1983 by 'Hector Ceballos-Lascurian' a Mexican environmentalist, and was initially used to describe nature-based travel to relatively undisturbed areas with an emphasis on education. The concept has, however, developed into a scientific approach to the planning, management and development of sustainable tourism products and activities.

Kerala, of all the states in India, offers the maximum potential for the promotion of eco-tourism. Miles and miles of endless serene beaches, tranquil stretches of emerald backwaters, pristine valleys and mountains, exotic species of rare flora and fauna, wild life sanctuaries and national parks, enchanting art forms, magical festivals and cultural monuments are all unique to Kerala and is thus ideally suited for the promotion of eco-tourism and has already initiated several steps in this direction.

In Kerala, 56 places have been identified for development as eco-tourism destinations giving emphasis to conservation, ecological sustainability, environmental education and local community benefits. Keeping this objective in mind the Kerala Tourism has setup a separate eco-tourism wing to support the development of the eco-tourism destinations.

The district of Thiruvananthapuram encompasses two wildlife sanctuaries namely Neyyar, Peppara and other places of interest are Ponmudi, Agasthyavanam Biological Park etc. In Kollam District falls India's first planned eco-tourism destination - Thenmala - which is known for its dense forests surrounding houses, innumerable variety of rare flora and fauna, and offers products for both general tourists as well as for eco-tourist. Apart from this, Thenmala eco-tourism offers one hour boating in the Shenduruney wildlife sanctuary reservoir and a visit to the deer rehabilitation center which houses a children's ecopark.

Konni Eco-tourism destination is situated in Pathanamthitta district. Being closely identified with elephants and elephant stories, this project has been given an 'elephant focus'. Eco-tourism activities such as trekking, rock-climbing, elephant safari, wilderness camping, river cruise by rafting, wildlife watching, bird watching etc. have ample scope in Konni. In Idukki district, just 16 km away from Munnar, is Eravikulam national park, which is famous for Nilgiri Thar, Elephants, Sambar, Gaur, Lion tailed Macaque etc. Gouldsbury trail is the trekking programme streamlined for this region.

Another important wild life sanctuary that is located in the same district is the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary. Eco-tourism initiatives in Palakkad district are at the hills of Nelliampathy. The place is about 1000m above mean sea level and is a beautiful hill station. Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary is yet another eco-tourism destination endowed with luxuriant vegetation and wild life.

Nilambur in Malapuram District is famous for teak plantations. The oldest teak plantation in the world - Conolley's Plot - is situated here. Pythalmala, an enchanting hill station, which is 65 km from Kannur town, is rich in flora and fauna. It is a six km trek to the top of the hills. The only protected area in Kannur District and the northern most sanctuary in Kerala is the Aralam wildlife sanctuary. This sanctuary supports a variety of animal and plant communities exhibiting incredible diversity. The magnificent Meenmutty waterfall, which is comparable to the Athirapally waterfalls of Kerala, is an added attraction to the sanctuary.

Kerala Tourism Eco-Initiatives envisages a series of programmes which include various components such as policy initiatives, destination specific programmes, support for community led ecotourism initiatives, consultancy, research programmes, awareness campaigns, human resource management, focused marketing, educational and interpretation packages, monitoring mechanism etc. A unique Eco-Certification programme based on these objectives was introduced recently by Kerala tourism. This has already been initiated for the hospitality sector, which provides certificates of different grade viz, Ordinary Member, Club Member, and Diamond Member on the basis of fulfillment of certain environment conditions.