Hidden Himalayas - Community Based Ecotourism Enterprise through Microcredits
The ecotourism program continues developing a paradigm wherein local villagers actually benefit from having their ancestral lands turned into a wilderness preserve by training local youths in eco-tourism and trekking so that more resources become available to them while wild nature is preserved for posterity.
About You
Location
Project Street Address
SHA- Arya Samaj Street , A B Kullu-HP (INDIA)
Project City
Sainj, Tirthan , Parvati and Jiwanal Valley - GHNP
Project Province/State
Himachal Pradesh
Project Postal/Zip Code
175101
Project Country
India
Your idea
Year initiative/program began:
2005
Field of work
Other
If Field of Work is "Other" please define in 1-2 words below (and explain in detail in the entry form):
Ecotourism
Service / Activity focus (If "other" please explain in entry form)
Equity Financing
Year organization founded (yyyy)
2001
YouTube Upload
Project URL
Positioning of your initiative on the Mosaic of Solutions™ diagram:
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Lack of skills and incentives to join formal economy
Which of the principles is the primary focus of your work?
Prove that social return doesn’t preclude financial gain
If you believe some other barrier or principle should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic
Lack of Marketing Skills
Lack of Government Support
Lack of involving the 100% of community in the ecotourism process due to low demands and less inflow of tourists.
Name Your Project
Hidden Himalayas - Community Based Ecotourism Enterprise through Microcredits
Describe Your Idea
The ecotourism program continues developing a paradigm wherein local villagers actually benefit from having their ancestral lands turned into a wilderness preserve by training local youths in eco-tourism and trekking so that more resources become available to them while wild nature is preserved for posterity.
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
Finding Alternative Income Generation Methods for the Youth belonging to the ecozone of the Great Himalayan National Park through community based ecotourism Initiatives financed through microcredits.
Describe what makes your idea unique—different from all others in the field.
Public ( Great Himalayan National Park Managment ) - Private ( Sunshine Himalayan Adventures - A private ecotourism enterprise) Community Particpation ( BTCA -NGO) on a shared basis for conservation efforts of a fragile protected area. A complete WIN-WIN for all . This unique example of public-private-community participation can be a role model for implimenting ecotourism as a solution for key problems like unemployment, poverty, illetracy, health and environmental protection.
How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
By training local youth belonging to ecozone in tourism related activities and developing entreprenueral skills through shared resources of the entire club or equity amongst the whole team members.
Do you have any existing partnerships, and if so, how did you create them?
The Ecotourism Model in the GHNP represents a good partnership with spelt out objectives. A private tour operation business giving access to the market training the local youths of a community based organization called BTCA who are the service providers with the active support of the Great Himalayan national Park Admnistration. Thus the model shares a public-private-community model.
In which sector do these partners work? (Check all that apply)
Citizen sector (nonprofits, NGOs) , Private sector , Public sector (government).
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact.
Sustainable Employment Generation leading to Conservation of the Great Himalayan National Park and steady income for people involved in the tourism trade.
Please list any other measures of the impact of your innovation.
The impact of this innovation can be measured from increased wages through ecotourism for the local community ( 20 members) , increased fauna conservation ( in the Great Himalayan national park) and development of small scale entreprenuer initiatives like the Tirthan Trekking Club , Homestays and small ecotourism enterprises.
Does your innovation address and/or change banking regulations?
No banking regulations are changed as banks just act as a means for regulating and accounting the cash flows. The people of the community has started their own saving groups along with basic contributions towards the assests involved in ecotourism. They have devided their savings into consumption loans and production loans which are given for income generation activities in which ecotourism is the most benefecial.
How many people does your innovation serve or plan to serve? Exactly who will benefit from your innovation?
We are directly serving around 120 people who are actively involved in ecotourism directly. But we intend to serve more than 12000 people directly or indirectly once the ecotourism in the area becomes more famous.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
Financing source
Self Financed through micro credit amongst WSCG and Ecotourism Group Savings. Sunshine Himalayan Adventures contributes 15% to the fund from the turnover.
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
Self Financed through a) Savings and contributions of the Ecotourism Members b) Earnings from Ecotourism Activities like trekking , nature camps etc c) Through contribution of Sunshine Himalayan Adventures who is a partner in the whole process.
If known, provide information on your finances and organization:
Annual Budget of Ecotourism : Rs 20,00,000
Annual Ravenue generated : Rs 6,00,000
Number of staff : Active ( 20) Indirectly ( porters , hire and fire staff) 100
What are the main financial barriers and how do you plan to address them?
The main financial barrier is cost of investments in the ecotourism activities. We would like to set up one of the first community based campsites of Himachal Pradesh which would provide an authentic community driven experience to the tourists. However the campsite requires a huge investment which would be done through contributions from SAHARA members as well as 1/2 the investment coming through Sunshine ADventures in form of a loan.
Aside from financial sustainability, how do you plan to grow the initiative?
The initiative in the Tirthan Valley is just a role model for several hidden valleys of Himachal Pradesh. Already Sainj, Lug , Banjar and various other valleys of Himachal have started copying the GHNP model and come out with various community driven initiatives in tourism. We plan to grow the initiave by activating all the products we have identified for ecdotourism and by providing direct and indirect employment to the whole community through ecotourism.
The Story
Please select one
What was the motivation or defining moment that led to the creation of this innovation? Tell us the story.
After the formation of GHNP in 2001 , the then Director of GHNP Mr. Sanjeeva Pandey involved my company and myself in training the local people from the Tirthan Valley in ecotourism. This was done through the Govt. PG College at Kullu where i was deputed as lecturer of tours and travels. After doing the training courses we started product development in tghe Tirthan Valley and trained our staff accordingly. My company also signed a memorandum with the NGO "BTCA" which was a community based organization. THus my company and BTCA began to promote tours in the GHNP with objective of creating employment for local people with a broader objective of protecting the environment of the GHNP.
Please provide a personal bio of the social innovator behind this initiative.
For the last 12 years, i have guided and operated Sunshine Himlayan Adventures to be at the forefront of Eco-friendly tours to the Western Himalayas. (www.sunshineadventure.com ) Being a naturalist and guide after receiving a Bachelors Degree in Commerce and a Masters Degree in Tourism from Himachal University. i also holds a Certificate in Environmental Tourism from IGNOU and will soon begin working towards my PhD in eco-tourism. i have worked as an interpretive naturalist for the Great Himalayan National Park and has been involved in community and environmental activism in the Western Himalayas from 1996 to the present. My community based work include using my computer programming expertise to help create the website for the Western Himalayan Mountaineering Institute www.himalayanadventure.org and working with SAHARA (NGO) in creating a staff-training manual for tourism guides as well as increasing the marketing of traditional crafts and tourism products to help improve the livelihoods of the local Kullu Valley people.
a) Please identify the individuals that your innovation benefits (Please check all that apply)
Producers , Consumers , Holders of assets.
b) Do you help the people you serve to buy goods or services using financial innovation? If so, how?
Yes the ecotourists buy various handicrafts , organic food products and various soveneigrs which starts off an indirect market of villagers asociated with tourists.
c) Do you help the people you serve to sell goods or services using financial innovation? If so, how?
Yes by developing various women saving credit group we are having a whole supply line of products which includes ecotourism as well. Kindly refer to the movie for the same.
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 | 126 weeks agoAnkit Sood updated this Competition Entry. |
| 126 weeks agoAnkit Sood updated this Competition Entry. |
