Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T00:19:44.821Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evaluation and resilience of ecotourism in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2013

NABIN BARAL
NABIN BARAL*
Affiliation:
Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 305 Cheatham Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
*
*Correspondence: Dr Nabin Baral Tel: +1 540 231 3596 Fax: +1 540 231 3698 e-mail: nbaral@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Ecotourism has been promoted to reconcile seemingly conflicting goals of tourism development and nature conservation. Given its importance, how has ecotourism fared in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) and how resilient was it to the Maoist insurgency in Nepal (1996–2006)? Drawing upon more than 10 months of field research, participant observation, semi-structured surveys and content analysis of 21 annual reports, ecotourism was evaluated by organizing ACA's programmes and activities under the four major emerging themes, namely local capacity building, waste management, education and infrastructure development; the most prominent theme was local capacity building. Annual visitor numbers declined during the insurgency, but ecotourism managed to survive, mainly due to self-organization of local tourism entrepreneurs. Local tourism entrepreneurs facilitated self-organization through capacity building and diversification of livelihoods. In the aftermath of the insurgency, visitor numbers rebounded and ecotourism continued to develop and evolve; ecotourism was thus resilient to the insurgency. Building local capacity, facilitating self-organization and diversifying livelihoods can enhance the resilience of ecotourism, sustaining stability and helping to deal with uncertainty.

Keywords

community-based conservationecotourismprotected areas managementprogramme evaluationresiliencesocial-ecological system
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , March 2014 , pp. 84 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abel, N., Cumming, D.H.M. & Anderies, J.M. (2006) Collapse and reorganization in social-ecological systems: Questions, some ideas, and policy implications. Ecology and Society 11: 17 [www document]. URL http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss1/art17/ Google Scholar
Bajracharya, S.B., Furley, P.A. & Newton, A.C. (2005) Effectiveness of community involvement in delivering conservation benefits to the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. Environmental Conservation 32: 1–9.Google Scholar
Baral, N. (2009) Institutional resilience of community-based conservation to the Maoist insurgency in Nepal. PhD dissertation. Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA.Google Scholar
Baral, N. & Heinen, J.T. (2006) The Maoist People's Warand conservation in Nepal. Politics and the Life Sciences 24: 2–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baral, N. & Stern, M.J. (2011) Capital stocks and organizational resilience in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. Society and Natural Resources 24 (9): 1011–1026.Google Scholar
Baral, N., Stern, M.J. & Hammett, A.L. (2012) Developing a scale for evaluating ecotourism by visitors: a study in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 20 (7): 975–989.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baral, N., Stern, M.J. & Heinen, J.T. (2007) Integrated conservation and development project life cycles in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal: is development overpowering conservation? Biodiversity and Conservation 16: 2903–2917.Google Scholar
Baral, N., Stern, M.J. & Heinen, J.T. (2010) Growth, collapse and reorganization of the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal: an analysis of institutional resilience. Ecology and Society 15 (3): 10 [www document]. URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art10/ Google Scholar
Biggs, D., Hall, C.M. & Stoeckl, N. (2012) The resilience of formal and informal tourism enterprises to disasters: reef tourism in Phuket, Thailand. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 20 (5): 645–665.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Björk, P. (2000) Ecotourism from a conceptual perspective, and extended definition of a unique tourism form. International Journal of Tourism Research 2 (3): 303–313.Google Scholar
Boo, E. (1991) Planning for ecotourism. Parks 2 (3): 4–8.Google Scholar
Bramwell, B. & Lane, B. (2009) Economic cycles, times of change and sustainable tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 17 (1): 1–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bunting, B.W., Sherpa, M.N. & Wright, M. (1991) Annapurna Conservation Area: Nepal's new approach to protected area management. In Resident Peoples and National Parks: Social Dilemmas and Strategies in International Conservation, ed. West, P.C. & Brechin, S.R., pp. 160–172. Tucson, AZ, USA: The University of Arizona Press.Google Scholar
Cornelissen, S. (2005) The Global Tourism System. Burlington, Vermont, USA: Ashgate Publishing Company.Google Scholar
de Ruiter, A. & Rai, P. (2011) Trekking the Annapurna Circuit Including New NATT-Trails Which Avoid the Road: a Guide Book to One of the Finest Trekking Areas of the World. Germany: Books on Demands Publications.Google Scholar
Diamantis, D. & Westlake, J. (2001) Ecolabelling in the context of sustainable tourism and ecotourism. In: Tourism, Ecolabelling, Certification and Promotion of Sustainable Management, ed. Font, X. & Buckley, R., pp. 27–40. Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing.Google Scholar
Farrell, B.H. & Twining-Ward, L. (2004) Reconceptualizing tourism. Annals of Tourism Research 31: 274–295.Google Scholar
Fennell, D.A. (2001) A content analysis of ecotourism definitions. Current Issues in Tourism 4 (5): 403–421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fennell, D.A. (2008) Ecotourism. (3rd ed.) New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Folke, C., Carpenter, S.R., Walker, B., Scheffer, M., Chapin, T. & Rockström, J. (2010) Resilience thinking: integrating resilience, adaptability and transformability. Ecology and Society 15: 20 [www document]. URL http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss4/art20/ Google Scholar
González, J.A., Montes, C., Rodríguez, J. & Tapia, W. (2008) Rethinking the Galapagos Islands as a complex social-ecological system: implications for conservation and management. Ecology and Society 13 (2): 13 [www document]. URL http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art13/ Google Scholar
Goodwin, H. (1996) In pursuit of ecotourism. Biodiversity and Conservation 5 (3): 277–291.Google Scholar
Gunderson, L.H. & Holling, C.S., eds (2002) Panarchy: Understanding Transformations in Human and Natural Systems. Washington, DC, USA: Island Press.Google Scholar
Gurung, C.P. (1995) People and their participation: new approaches to resolving conflicts and promoting cooperation. In: Expanding Partnership in Conservation, ed. McNeely, J.A., pp. 223–233. Washington, DC, USA: Island Press.Google Scholar
Hamzah, A. & Hampton, M.P. (2013) Resilience and nonlinear change in island tourism. Tourism Geographies: An International Journal of Tourism Space, Place and Environment 15 (1): 43–67.Google Scholar
Higham, J. (2007) Ecotourism: competing and conflicting schools of thought. In: Critical Issues in Ecotourism: Understanding a Complex Tourism Phenomenon, ed. Higham, J., pp. 2–19. Burlington, MA, USA: Butterworth-Heinemann Publication.Google Scholar
Holladay, P.J. (2011) An integrated approach to assessing the resilience and sustainability of community-based tourism development in the commonwealth of Dominica. PhD thesis. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, Clemson University, South Carolina, USA.Google Scholar
Holling, C.S. (2001) Understanding the complexity of economic, ecological, and social systems. Ecosystems 4: 390–405.Google Scholar
Honey, M. (1999) Ecotourism and Sustainable Development: Who Owns Paradise? Washington, DC, USA: Island Press.Google Scholar
Hough, J. & Sherpa, M.N. (1989) Bottom-up versus basic needs: integrating conservation and development in the Annapurna and Michiru Mountain Conservation Areas of Nepal and Malawi. Ambio 18: 434–441.Google Scholar
Khadka, D. & Nepal, S.K. (2010) Local responses to participatory conservation in Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. Environmental Management 45 (2): 351–362.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kiss, A. (2004) Is community-based ecotourism a good use of biodiversity conservation funds? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19: 232–237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lambert, E., Hunter, C., Pierce, G.J. & MacLeod, C.D. (2010) Sustainable whale-watching tourism and climate change: towards a framework of resilience. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 18: 409–427.Google Scholar
Larsen, R.K., Calgaro, E. & Thomalla, F. (2011) Governing resilience building in Thailand's tourism-dependent coastal communities: conceptualising stakeholder agency in social–ecological systems. Global Environmental Change 21: 481–491.Google Scholar
Laverack, G. & Sopon, T. (2009) Building community capacity for locally managed ecotourism in Northern Thailand. Community Development Journal 44 (2): 172–185.Google Scholar
Leiper, N. (1981) Towards a cohesive curriculum in tourism: the case for a distinct discipline. Annals of Tourism Research 8: 69–84.Google Scholar
Levine, S.A. (1998) Ecosystems and the biosphere as complex adaptive systems. Ecosystems 1 (5): 431–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindberg, K. & McKercher, B. (1997) Ecotourism: a critical overview. Pacific Tourism Review 1 (1): 65–79.Google Scholar
Luthe, T., Wyss, R. & Schuckert, M. (2012) Network governance and regional resilience to climate change: empirical evidence from mountain tourism communities in the Swiss Gotthard region. Regional Environmental Change 12: 839–854.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehta, J.N. & Heinen, J.T. (2001) Does community-based conservation shape favorable attitudes among locals? An empirical study from Nepal. Environmental Management 28: 165–177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, G. & Twining-Ward, L. (2005) Monitoring for a Sustainable Tourism Transition: The Challenge of Developing and Using Indicators. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: CABI Publishing.Google Scholar
Novelli, M. & Scarth, A. (2007) Tourism in protected areas: integrating conservation and community development in Liwonde National Park (Malawi). Tourism and Hospitality Planning and Development 4 (1): 47–73.Google Scholar
Nyaupane, G.P. & Thapa, B. (2004) Evaluation of ecotourism: a comparative assessment in the Annapurna Conservation Area Project, Nepal. Journal of Ecotourism 3: 20–45.Google Scholar
Nyaupane, G.P. & Poudel, S. (2011) Linkages among biodiversity, livelihood, and tourism. Annals of Tourism Research 38 (4): 1344–1366.Google Scholar
Olsson, P., Folke, C. & Berkes, F. (2004) Adaptive comanagement for building resilience in social-ecological systems. Environmental Management 34 (1): 75–90.Google Scholar
Ostrom, E. (2009) A general framework for analyzing sustainability of social-ecological systems. Science 325: 419–422.Google Scholar
Ramalingam, B., Jones, H., Reba, T. & Young, J. (2008) Exploring the Science of Complexity: Ideas and Implications for Development and Humanitarian Efforts. London, UK: Overseas Development Institute.Google Scholar
Ross, S. & Wall, G. (1999) Evaluating ecotourism: the case of North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Tourism Management 20: 673–682.Google Scholar
Rossi, P.H., Lipsey, M.W. & Freeman, H.E. (2004) Evaluation: A Systematic Approach. Seventh edition. Thousand Oaks, California, USA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Ruiz-Ballesteros, E. (2011) Social-ecological resilience and community-based tourism: an approach from Agua Blanca, Ecuador. Tourism Management 32: 655–666.Google Scholar
Spiteri, A. & Nepal, S.K. (2008) Evaluating local benefits from conservation in Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area. Environmental Management 42: 391–401.Google Scholar
Strickland-Munro, J.K., Allison, H.E. & Moore, S.A. (2010) Using resilience concepts to investigate the impacts of protected area tourism on communities. Annals of Tourism Research 37: 499–519.Google Scholar
Thapa, B. (2003) Tourism in Nepal: Shangri-La's troubled times. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing 15: 117–138.Google Scholar
TIES (2012) What is ecotourism? [www document]. URL http://www.ecotourism.org/what-is-ecotourism Google Scholar
Tsaur, S.-H., Lin, Y.-C. & Lin, J.-H. (2006) Evaluating ecotourism sustainability from the integrated perspective of resource, community and tourism. Tourism Management 27: 640–653.Google Scholar
Tyrrell, T.J. & Johnston, R.J. (2008) Tourism sustainability, resiliency and dynamics: towards a more comprehensive perspective. Tourism and Hospitality Research 8: 14–24.Google Scholar
UNWTO (2009) UN World Tourism Organization Barometer. Madrid, Spain: UN World Tourism Organization.Google Scholar
Walker, B., Carpenter, S., Anderies, J., Abel, N., Cumming, G.S., Janssen, M., Lebel, L., Norberg, J., Peterson, G.D. & Pritchard, R. (2002) Resilience management in social-ecological systems: a working hypothesis for a participatory approach. Conservation Ecology 6 (1): 14 [www document]. URL http://www.consecol.org/vol6/iss1/art14/ Google Scholar
Walker, B., Kinzig, A. & Langridge, J. (1999) Plant attribute diversity, resilience, and ecosystem function: the significance of dominant and minor species. Ecosystems 2 (2): 95–113.Google Scholar
Walker, B., Holling, C.S., Carpenter, S.R. & Kinzig, A. (2004) Resilience, adaptability and transformability in social–ecological systems. Ecology and Society 9: 5 [www document]. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol9/iss2/art5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallace, G.N. & Pierce, S.M. (1996) An evaluation of ecotourism in Amazonas, Brazil. Annals of Tourism Research 23: 843—873.Google Scholar
Weaver, D.B. (2005) Comprehensive and minimalist dimensions of ecotourism. Annals of Tourism Research 32: 439–455.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Baral Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download Baral Supplementary Material(File)
File 28.1 KB