Md. Wasiul Islam
Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna-9208, Bangladesh
Community-based tourism, Ecotourism, Sundarbans Reserved Forest, Environment, Empowerment, Local community
Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira
Conservation and Biodiversity
Forest, Sundarban, Tourism
Study area Ecotourism practice may be carried out all over the Sundarbans. But some fragile ecosystems should not be undertaken here for open access for all types of tourists. The Sundarbans is a tropical humid and mangrove type forest situated at the southern extremity of the Padma and Jamuna delta. The Sundarbans consists about 44% of the total forest area and 4.2% of the total land area of the country. The Sundarbans of Bangladesh is the single largest tract of mangrove forest in the world covering an area of about 6,017 km2, out of which 4,143 km2 (68.85% of SRF) is landmass and 1,874 km2 (31.15% of SRF) is water body. SRF stands at the southern part of Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira Civil district lying between latitude 21°39´00´´ to 21°30´15´´N and longitude 89°12´54´´ to 89°29´04´´E. The forest is bounded by the Baleshwar river in the east, Harinbhanga, Raimongal and Kalindi River in the west which is also the international boundary with India, the Bay of Bengal in the south and many rivers, canals and human habitation in the north (Haider, 2004). In this article, Community-based Tourism (CBT) has been proposed at the surrounding villages of SRF. The Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation Project (SBCP, 2002) identified 82 unions of 17 Upazilas under Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Pirojpur and Borguna Civil district as the Impact Zone which was situated within the 5 km of the boundary of SRF. This Impact Zone is the potential area for developing and practicing CBT. Explorative research is needed to find out the suitable area for CBT within the Impact Zone.
Tourism and conservation Tourism can be defined as the temporary short-term movement of people to considerations outside the places where they normally live and work and their activities during the stay at the destination in order to satisfy a consumer needs (Law, 1996). Tourism is the world’s largest industry which is still growing. The annual growth rate in tourism is expected to be higher than 4% over the next 20 years. The contribution of tourism to developing economies is impressive (Kruk et al., 2007). Tourism is an increasingly essential element of economic, social and cultural development (Western, 1993). According to UNESCO, travel and tourism is one of the few sectors which has major growth potential. As for example, it provides opportunities for job creation and economic development; enhances social progress and strengthens communities, encourages the protection of the environment and contributes actively to conservation (Kamamba, 2003). Sustainable tourism provides one possible strategy for preserving biodiversity and promoting small-scale sustainable economic development. Some critics question how increased sustainable tourism income in areas of high biodiversity contributes toward biodiversity conservation (Catherine, 2007: 251). The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) asserts that sustainable tourism can be a tool for economic development and poverty reduction, arguing that tourism provides opportunities for selling additional goods and services; creates opportunities for local economic diversification of poor and marginal areas without other development opportunities; is based on cultural, wildlife and landscape assets that belong to the poor; offers better labour-intensive and small scale opportunities than any sector but agriculture; promotes gender equality by employing a relatively high proportion of women; reduces leakage from, and maximizes linkage to, local economies. Tourism therefore offers opportunities for substantial growth, although success depends on effective marketplace value, quality of the products developed and the establishment of meaningful community–private–public partnerships (UNWTO, 2002). Ilyina and Mieczkowski, (1992) has opined that ‘knowledge-orientated’ tourism is expending in the world with other forms of environmentally friendly tourism, such as ecotourism, adventure tourism and cultural tourism. Scientific tourism is a form of sustainable tourism (as for example ecotourism) has excellent prospects worldwide with the improving educational levels and increased interest on the demand side of the demand-supply equation in tourism. ‘Knowledge-orientated’ tourists are known for their modest expectations in terms of facilities, amenities, service and comfort.
Khulna University Studies Special Issue (SESB 2010): 127-140: June, 2010
Journal