Forest-based tourism is an opportunity for the poor, undeveloped countries to rise up. Unfortunately the most important positive impact of it seem insignificant to the government and governmental organisations in Bangladesh, where tourism could become an effective way of the economic upturn. Tourism development leads to the improvement of local residents’ level of life, and this is what should be considered one of the most important effects of forest-based tourism in the country. It is neglected by the government agencies who should first consult the policies with the locals and then include them in the development process.
Historical conflict between the two key stakeholders (Forest Department and indigenous people) does not allow both sides to cooperate efficiently. Alam, Furukawa and Akter – authors of the article “Forest based Tourism in Bangladesh: Status, Problems and Prospects” – use a definition of Salam and Noguchi (2006) who define the successful relationships as those based on trust, understanding and equal participation. None of these values are visible between the two sides of the conflict in Bangladesh.
The government is aware of the positive impacts of sustainable tourism like forest-based tourism or eco-tourism. It is noticeable when we look at the policies that have been introduced. Most of them are related to the preservation of national environment, including forests which cover 9% of the country (Earthtrends). The existing governmental policy has placed great emphasis on ecotourism. The previous one, declared in 1992, aims to preserve, protect, develop, and maintain tourism resources, to take steps for poverty-alleviation through creating employment and to open up a recognized sector for private capital investment (Alam, Furukawa, Akter; 2010). These parts of the policy, which are related to the residents (e.g. increasing the level of employment) cannot succeed without prior research and consultation in the environment of these people.
“Rather than public ‘input’, communicative planning and joint decision-making is needed where residents are informed about the potential impacts of tourism development and can participate meaningfully in tourism decision-making.” (Buhalis; 2006; 172)
The multi-perspective attitude is needed in order to understand the necessity of communication, debate, and consultation. This is what is lacking in the governmental policy-making plans in Bangladesh. The government should first conduct the research in the field of forest-based tourism, by observing and interviewing the locals, try to understand them, and look at the issues from their perspective. Gained data should be analyzed and the results consulted with the residents. After the government gains opinions of the local society, decisions about policies can be made. The following citation is an example of a proper approach for managing sustainable tourism development (in Swedish and Romanian national prks):
“A feeling exists among regional authorities that foreign help would bring benefits to both locations and recognition of interdependence between stakeholders and STDS’s contribution to improved communication between stakeholders.” (Cotrell and Cutumisu; 2006; 160)
Another issue that the authors mention is that besides the conflicts between government and indigenous people, Bangladesh has to deal with unawareness of the tourists. In this case the issue causes more negative impacts like causing disturbance of wildlife and improper waste disposal. If the government gave the residents a possibility to manage certain areas, the scope of this problem would most likely narrow down. The level of unemployment would decrease at the same time.
References:
Alam M., Furukawa Y., Akter S. (2010). Forest-Based Tourism In Bangladesh: Status, Problems, and Prospects. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism. Vol. 5, No. 1, 163-172.
Buhalis, D. (2006). Tourism Management Dynamics: trends, management and tools. Oxford: Elsevier.
Cotrell S., Cutumisu N. (2006). Sustainable Tourism Development Strategy in WWF Pan Parks: Case of a Swedish and Romanian National Park. Tourismos. Vol. 6, No. 2, 150–167.
Earthtrends (accessed on Sep 22, 2010). Webpage address: http://earthtrends.wri.org/text/forests-grasslands-drylands/country-profile-14.html
Pawel,
I being from a country where forest based tourism is one of the drawing powers for our tourist,took much interest in your article.
For a country like Bangladesh that is still developing in terms of tourism forest based tourism can an effective tool to pave its way making it one of the most sought out destinations in the world.The country with its rich forest varieties can serve as a attraction to Eco-tourism which has now become one of the fasting growing form of tourism. I agree that it is the role and responsibility of the Stakeholders who need to communicate ,educate and make aware to the local people about the developments within their regions and the country as a whole.
Congrats on your first blog entry.
Hi Pawel,
I also enjoyed the article. I’m not so familiar with the situation of why there is a big gap between the indigenous population and the government/forestry department in Bangladesh, but as long as there is no trust or cooperation between the two stakeholders, nothing good will happen. Maybe if both sides realised the potential benefits of working together to develop tourism that might change, but it depends on the reasons for mistrust in the first place.
Maybe if they disagree on the tourism-development issue, that might be another strain on the relationship
Thank you for your comments Tshewang and Darlene. From the two sides of the conflict, goverment is the one which is responsible for improvement of cooperation. Even if indigenous people are aware of benefits of cooperation they have no legitimate power of change. In case when they are not aware of such profits, it is still government who should provide them with all the necessary information. What is lacking is professionalism of both sides. However the government is responsible for allowing the changes to take place.