Bardia National Park: A Destination for Eco-tour

A Report Submitted to

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Science

Department of Conflict, Peace and Development

Tribhuwan University

In the partial Fulfillment of the Requirement of the Masters Degree Faculty of Humanities
and Social sciences

(CPD 509 ‘B’, Tourism &Development)

Submitted by

Mani Ram Kandel

Oct 2009

…….…………………………..

Checked by

Prof. Dr. Ramesh Raj Kunwar

 Acknowledgements

Tourism is highly considered as the most important source of foreign currency in Nepal. Hence,
it is necessary to good guideline for the good planning and policies from the various sectors to
boost the tourism. The importance of tourism is increasing day by day as a basis of development
because of foreign exchange earnings and its contribution for the creation of employment
opportunities.

As per assigned to students of Master’s degree of Conflict, Peace and Development Studies of
Tribhuvan university, the researcher went to Bardia in course of 15 days field visit for his final
thesis paper on “Peace Building Through Rehabilitation: A Study of Conflict Induced IDPs in
Bardia”. At the same time the researcher listed Bardia National Park for two days field work for
the partial fulfillment of the paper.

The researcher could not have completed this task without sincere help from various individuals
and organizations. First of all I have a deep respect and gratitude to Dr. Saubha gya shah, the
coordinator, Department of Conflict Peace and Development studies, Tribhuvan University, Prof.
Dr. Ramesh Raj Kunwar, faculty member of the department and my friends; Santa Thapa, Kamal
Lamsal and Deepak Sharma who inspired me to prepare this paper during the field visit.

Similarly I would like to thank the people of Thakurdwara, staffs of the park and specially
Khadka Bahadur Khadka, the proprietor of Jungle Cottage who gave me the information about
the park. The people whom I was encountered during the field research were very encouraged
and inspired me and provided food and beverage was unforgettable. It was not possible to
complete this paper without the co-operation of these people. So the simple words of thanks
cannot express my gratitude.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page No.
Acknowledgement
Chapter one
Introduction
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Defining tourism, tourist and ecotourism 2
1.3 Objectives of the study 4
Chapter two
2.1 Literature review 5
2.2 Methodology 7
Chapter three
3. Tourism in Bardia National Park
3.1 Historical Background and attractions of the park 8
3.2 Lodging and food catering 10
3.3 Transportation facilities 11
3.4 Tourist flow in the park 11
3.5 Activities 12
3.6 Legislation 12
4. Conclusion and recommendations 13
5. References 14
6. Photos 14
 Chapter one

Introduction

1.1 BACKGROUND

Travel & Tourism is the world’s largest clean industry and creator of jobs across national and
regional economies. WTTC/WEFA research shows that in 2000, Travel & Tourism will
generate, directly and indirectly, 11.7% of GDP and nearly 200 million jobs in the world-wide
economy. These figures are forecasted to total 11.7% and 255 million respectively in 2010 1 .

Nepal is one of the richest countries in terms of tourism potentiality. Terai, Hill and Mountain
are the main attraction of the country. Mountaineering, trekking, mountain biking, nature tours,
culture tours, pilgrimage tours, whitewater rafting, kayaking, mountain flight, jungle safaris, bird
watching, fishing, angling, paragliding, bungee jumping etc are the world class experience which
one can get by visiting Nepal.

Mix of lifestyles, vegetations and wild lives according to the different altitudes and climates can
found in Nepal. Varieties of cultures and people and their lifestyle have made Nepal one of the
richest countries. Different religious groups, caste groups are also another attraction for the
tourist or pilgrimage tourism. Village tours on Nepal allow visitors to experience a stay in typical
Nepali village. This gives visitors an opportunity to observe the rich Nepali cultural tradition
from the closet quarter and intermingle with the locals.

As an academic report this short writing tends to clear the concept of ecotourism in global arena
and the researcher has tried to connect the concept in Bardia National Park. How can be the
‘Bardia national Park’ as a destination for ecotourism? This is the major research question of this
report. On the other hand the researcher has tried to account the importance of ecotourism in
Nepal. At the end of this report the researcher has made some recommendation for the further
development of tourism in Bardia.

1
World Travel and Tourism Organization and International Hotel and Restaurant Association, 1999, Tourism and
Sustainable Development: The Global Importance of Tourism; New York.
1.2 Defining tourism, tourist and ecotourism
Before defining ecotourism it is necessary to know about that what tourism and tourist is?
Tourism itself is not complete without the tourist and the ecotourism is the one part of tourism so
that these three terms are interrelated. Some definition on tourism, tourist and ecotourism are as
follows.

“The world is a book; he who stay at home reads only one page”- St. Augustaine (354-430
A.D) 2 . From this saying one can understand that the tourism is leaving the home inquest of
knowledge and entertainment. “….the act of leaving and then returning to the original starting
point, and therefore, one who takes such a journey can be called a tourist.”3

While defining tourism, many scholars are agreed that the tourism is essentially an expression of
natural human interest for experience, adventure, knowledge and entertainment. Some
definitions regarding tourism are as follows;

In the year 1963, the UN conference on international travel and tourism held at Rome
recommended definitions for the term “Tourism”. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) and
the united nation jointly published this definition in 1994. According to this definition “Tourism
is defined as activities of persons travelling to and staying places outsides their usual
environment for not more than one consecutive year, for leisure, business and other purpose.”
The definition incorporates the following main three basic criteria: firstly, ‘A time creation’ that
the person doesn’t stay at the place visited for more than one consecutive year, ‘A distance
creation’ that the purpose of travel should be leisure, business and others but not migration and
employment purpose. 4

Tourism is not a new phenomenon for Hindu’s. In Sanskrit literature there is not found a
different term for tourism derived from the root Aten, which means leaving home for some time
to other places (Negi, op cit, 22). They had different types of tourism known as Parayatan

2
Kunwar Ramesh Raj , 2006, Tourist and Tourism Science and Industry Interface, Kathmandu; International
School of Tourism and Hotel Management
3
Theoland,1997; in Kunwar, 2006:2
4
Goswami B.K. and G. Ravindran, 2005, A Text Book of Tourism, New Delhi; Har-Anand publications
(going out for pleasure and knowledge); Deshantan (going out to other countries primarily for
economic gain); and Tirthan (going to the place of religious importance) 5

According to Ryan (1991:5), tourism is “a study of the demand for, and supply of,
accommodation and supportive services for those staying away from home, and the resultant
patterns of expenditure, income creation and employment.”6 From this definition we can see that
tourism includes supply of facilities to the travelers according to their demand and which
increases the employment and income for the host or local people. Nielsen (2001:12) comments
that this is a rather bland definition. It is to be noted that this definition (Ryan’s) excludes any
reference to enjoyment and leisure. 7

In this way, we can see there is not specific definition of tourism. In holistic approach we can
take following definition of tourism. This definition was firstly taken by the Tourism Steering
Group to Stratford-upon- Avon District Council in England in its 1978 report, according to this
group “…….day trippers from the cities of Midlands, evening theatergoers from London, coach-
tour passengers from all over the world hurtling through the country, conference delegates and
longer-stay customers of whole price range of serviced and unserviced accommodation… a
visitor to the District for whatever reason he or she comes, for however long he or she may stay,
and by whatever means he or she may come ….”8

While defining ‘tourist’ Erik Cohen says, “The tourist is a voluntary temporary traveler
travelling in the expectation of pleasure from the novelty and change experience on a relatively
long and non-recurrent round trip”9 . Similarly Valene L. Smith (1989) says “in general, a tourist
is a temporarily leisured person who voluntarily visits a place away from home for the purpose
of experiencing a change”10

As far as the definition of ecotourism is concerned in 1987, when Hector Ceballos- Lascurain, in
an article in the Mexico journal defined ecotourism and same definition came as a good

5
Kunwar Ramesh Raj , 2006, Tourist and Tourism Science and Industry Interface, Kathmandu; International
School of Tourism and Hotel Management
6
Ryan; 1991:5 in Kunwar 2006:3
7
Nielsen, 2001:12;in Kunwar,2006
8
Tourism Steering Group, 1978; Ryan 1991; in Kunwar 2006:5
9
Kunwar, 2006:10
10
Valene L. Smith 1989, in Kunwar 2006:10
definition in the academia. According to his corrected definition “ecotourism that involves
travelling relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas with the specific object of
studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals as well as any
existing cultural areas in which the conservation of ecosystems and protection of biodiversity is
aimed at, the desired types of tourists and tourism visit the protected areas (destination), and the
organization of the tourism development support a sustainable development. This is a kind of
small scale tourism which is based on natural and cultural conditions and does not destroy the
resources which tourism builds on”11

The strong growth in interest in ecotourism over the last decade has resulted in it being
sometimes misinterpreted and misrepresented by tour operators keen to take advantage of this
interest. Thus it is important from the outset to clarify the precise meaning and intent of the often
used term ‘ecotourism’.

The National Ecotourism Strategy Australia (Commonwealth Department of Tourism, 1994 p.

17) defines ecotourism as: “nature based tourism that involves education and interpretation of
natural environment and it’s managed to be ecologically sustainable” (here the natural
environment includes cultural components and that ‘ecologically sustainable’ involves an
appropriate return to the local community and long-term conservation of the resources) 12 .

1.3 Objectives of the study

As an academic writing the main objective of this study is to justify the Bardia National Park as
an eco-tour destination. As far as possible, ecotourism as in academia the researcher tends to find
out the elements of ecotourism in the study area. Similarly to find out the type of tourist who
visit the National park and its management and important tourist product of the study area are
also the objectives of this study.

11
Boo, 1990; Lindberg, 1991; Hummel;1996; in Kunwar, Ramesh Raj, 2006
12
Wearing, Stephen and Joanne McLean, 1997, Developing Ecotourism: A community Based Approach, Australia;
HM Lesure Planning Pty
 Chapter two

2.1 Literature review

As the researcher mentioned above there is not ultimate definition of tourism but many scholars
have agreed that tourism is essentially an expression of natural human interest for experience of
his/her travel. For example the experiences of lodging and fooding, adventure, knowledge and
entertainment and so on. A tourist visits the destination according to his/ her interest. As Ryan
(1991:5) says that tourism is a combination of demand and supply of accommodation and
supportive services for the tourists who visit away from his/her home. 13

Goswami and Ravindran say “tourism normally involves transportation to the destination and
back, as well as accommodation, food, sightseeing, entertainment and shopping at the places
visited by the tourists. Enterprising tour operators put together two or more of these elements and
sell them as packages. These can also be all- inclusive packages covering all elements of tour.”14
They further say that an ideal tourism product is a package consisting of various physical and
psychological elements, which provides the best possible experience and satisfaction to the
tourist. For example it would consist of:

? An environment of peace and stability.

? An assurance of safety and security.
? A friendly host society.
? An industry and establishment which provide the requisite services.

Similarly Kunwar (2006:22) also states –transportation, accommodation, attraction,

infrastructures, souvenir shops and food catering are the components of tourism. 15 He further
gives the way of categorizing destination attributes and attraction on the basis of following
elements:

13
Ryan, Chris,1991 in Kunwar, Ramesh Raj, 2006, Tourist and Tourism Science and Industry Interface,
Kathmandu; International School of Tourism and Hotel Management
14
Goswami B.K. and G. Ravindran, 2005, A Text Book of Tourism, New Delhi; Har-Anand publications
15
Kunwar, Ramesh Raj, 2006:22
 ? Natural resources
? Cultural resources
? Convention and conference facilities
? Recreational facilities etc.

Here the natural resources and cultural resources includes such as climate, parks, conservation
area, protected area, mo untains, historical sites, museums, theaters, people themselves, religious
festivals, cultural norms and values, village tour etc.

As far as the ecotourism is concerned it is a part of whole tourism industry. As the researcher
mentioned above tourism, tourists and ecotourism are very interrelated phenomenon. Ecotourism
is slightly different in terms of other tourism products. Ecotourism is environmentally friendly
travel that emphasizes seeing and saving natural habitats and archeological treasures. It is also a
tool for conservation of the natural property.

As Hector Ceballos- Lascurain defines ecotourism, basically involves uncontaminated,

unspoiled, undisturbed destination and the main objective of the tour can be entertainment,
sightseeing, knowledge ga ining, admiring the natural beauties and cultural aesthetics in the
destination. And he also says that protected areas are the main destination of the ecotourism and
desired types of tourists are conscious about the preservation of the nature and they are bound by
the certain legislation formed by tourism agencies or administration of the protected area.

As ecotourism defined by National Ecotourism Strategy Australiya 1994, comprises the

following elements:16

? The natural environment.

? Ecological and cultural sustainability.
? Education and interpretation.
? Provision of local and regional benefits etc.

16
Wearing, Stephen and Joanne McLean, 1997, Developing Ecotourism: A community Based Approach, Australia;
HM Lesure Planning Pty
The author further say, ecotourism in its ideal form, is tourism which both small-scale and
sensitive to the environment, involving individuals or small group, who observe, interact with,
actively learn about and appreciate the local ecology and cultural heritage. These experiences
may be facilitated by qualified guides who ensure adherence to strict codes of behavior17 . For
example the following activities are typical examples of ecotourism;

? Nature walk
? Wilderness treks/walks and camping
? Wildlife watching
? Fauna and flora education
? Outdoor education.
? Study tours/ village tours etc

Thus in general ecotourism involves extensive value of tourism and it has distinctive features as
the scholars agreed on uncontaminated, unspoiled, undisturbed natural places for the destination.
Small scale size of tourist with the distinctive aim of getting knowledge and interpretation and
admiring the natural beauties are another features of ecotourism. Legislations laid by tourism
agencies and other administration related to the field is another distinctive feature of this type of
tourism.

2.2 Methodology

As a short academic report the researcher has tried to flourish the ecotourism in Nepal on the
basis of its essence in the destination. As the researcher mentioned above ecotourism contains
uncontaminated, unspoiled, unpolluted, undisturbed destination and it has certain norms and
value to be follow by the tourist. By keeping this concept the researcher visited the Bardia
National Park and stayed one night over there. This one day field visit is the basic foundation to
prepare this short report. While visiting the Bardia National Park the researcher experienced the
real attraction of the park. Field visit, observation and some interviews with the staffs and
hoteliers are the sources of the primary data of this report. Similarly some secondary sources like
travel agencies’ brochures, internet documents, magazines, news paper and other related books
were also concerned by the researcher.

17
Ibid
 Chapter three

Tourism in Bardia National Park

3.1 Historical Background and attractions of the park

Royal Bardia National Park (after the abolition of constitutional monarchy in 2006 the name of
the park has been changed and now it calls ‘Bardia National Park’) is the largest park in the
lowland Terai covering an area of 968 sq. km. The park situated in Nepal’s Western Terai was
established to protect representative ecosystems and conserve
tiger and its prey species. Initially, a small area was gazette as the
Royal Karnali Wildlife Reserve in 1976. When this area was
protected, approximately 1500 people of the Babai valley were
resettled outside the park allowing the vegetation and wildlife to
flourish. In 1982, it was renamed as Royal Bardia Wildlife
Reserve, and in 1984 it was extended to its current size. The reserve was given the status of a
National Park in 1988. Greater One-horned Rhinoceros were translocated from Royal Chitwan
National Park in 1986, 1991, and 1999 18 .

In 1997, an area of 327 sq. km surrounding the park was declared as a buffer zone which consists
of forests and private lands. The buffer zone is jointly managed by the park and local

18
Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, babar Mahal Kathmandu 2005,
htto//:www.dnpwc.gov.np
communities19 . Together they initiate community development activities and manage natural
resources in the buffer zones.

The Babai valley extending from Parewa Odar to Chepang Bridge was inclined in the park in
1984. The pristine valley is characterized by rich biodiversity. The major vegetation and forest
type are wooded grassland and the riverine forest. The translocated rhinoceros from Chitwan
National Park were reintroduced in this valley. However rhinos could not be sighted during
status monotoring undertaken in May 2007.

The luxurious forest in the east of the park also provides a good habitat and corridor for several
wildlife species. The Karnali River is home to the endangered Gharial crocodile and marsh
mugger. The blue water also provide habitat for the endangered Gangetic dolphin. Large
mahasheer, a ga me fish, is considered an excellent catch. The fast flowing water also provides
excellent rafting expeditions. Dense forest of the valley is the home for different birds like
Herons, Egrets, Black- necked stork, and little pratincole.

Similarly the Tharu ethnic group is native to this area. Traditionally they are subsistence farmers
and practice their own tribal religious activities. Handicrafts made by the community members
could be bought as souvenirs. 20

19
Ibid
20
Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, babar Mahal Kathmandu 2007,
htto//:www.dnpwc.gov.np
The park also offers variety of experiences in its vast undisturbed wilderness. About 70% of the
forest consists of Sal trees with a mixture of grassland and riverine forest. The park is home to
endangered animals such as the Royal Bengal tiger, wild elephants, Greater one-horned
rhinoceros, swamp, and other many colorful birds.

3.2 Lodging and food catering

Thakurdwarw is the main entry point of the park and there are more than 12 resorts and hotels.
Some of them are; Bardia jungle Cottage, Riro lodge, Riverside Lodge, Paradise Hotel, Jungle
Heaven Ho tel, Nepal Wildlife Hotel, Hideaway Cottage, Natures Way Resort, Resized Resort,
Tharu Home, Adventure Resort, Forest HideWay, Base Camp Hotel, Tiger Top Karnali Lodge,
and Western Nepal Adventure etc.

Khadka Bahadur Khadka, proprietor of Bardia Jungle Cottage said 300 tourists can easily
accommodate in Thakurdwara. According to Khadka during the armed conflict in Nepal almost
all the hotels were closed due to the limited flow of the tourists. He further said there were 21
workers before the armed conflict and he closed the Cottage 2058 to 2063 (B.S) because of the
Banda 21 in transportation services. Now he has 7 workers in his Cottage and all these workers are
from local community.

3.3 Transportation facilities

There is a daily flight or buses from Kathma ndu to Nepalgunj. From Nepalgunj, bus services are
available to the park headquarter at Thakurdwara.

3.4 Tourist flow in the park

Many agencies are facilitating for the tourists in the park. According Tikaram Adhakai,
administrative officer of the park, there was not significance visit from internal tourist before
1995 but now days the students from different colleges and schools have started to visit national
park for the entertainment and to know about the biodiversity and the wild animals of the park.
Parbati Acharya, Keshar Thapa, Devi BK, game scouts, show the record file and there one can
see the name list of the visitors and easily analyze that there are more than 40% of the tourists
are from abroad. They said tourist from abroad used to come for their research work as well as
entertainment. France, Germany, Israel, British, Canada, Australia, USA, News land, Japan,
Austria, Netherlands and so on are dominant tourist flow in the park. They also said that most of
the tourist wants to see deer and tiger. The respondents said that the researchers use to come for
their research work and they conduct different seminars in Thakurdwara.

21
Banda, a Nepali term used for strike.
3.5 Activities

Jungle walk, Bird watching, Jeep Safari, Elephant ride, Village walk, Rafting, mini trek,
canoeing, fishing, culture programs, cycle ride, night walk, visit to black buck at Khairapur are
some major activities in the national park. One can visit the park for one night stay to six days to
have all the new experiences of the park. Lots of travel agencies are working for the tourist guide
in the area.

3.6 Legislation

National park and wild life conservation act of Nepal government 2029 (B.S) has enshrined the
provision to protect the national park and wildlife. Articles 3 and 4 of the act have provided some
guideline to be follow by the tourists and normal people. The national park also can make some
rules and regulation under this act for the protection of the park. For example entrance fee,
entertainment fee and other some rules to be fallow by the tourist within the park area. Similarly
article five of the act has enshrined some restrictive action, like; hunting of wild life, firing,
deforestation, entry of domestic animals, manmade settlement etc.
4. Conclusion and recommendations

The tourism industry has an important role to play in the national economy of Nepal because of
its comparative advantage. It has contributed to employment creation, income generation and
improvement of the balance of payments in a meaningful way. In the same vein, the
development of tourism is likely to contribute to the improvement of historic and religious places
and environmental conservation.
Development of tourism and more specifically tourist destinations in Nepal has not been well
planned. It is generally a case of natural attractions luring tourists automatically without any
planned approach by the government. The tourism sector has, therefore, grown haphazardly. So
in order to remove the present anomalies in tourism development the government has prioritized
the roles of government and the private sector for the systematic development of tourism.

In this short report, the researcher has tried to identify the Bardia national as an important
destination for the ecotourism. Bardia National park contains uncontaminated, unspoiled,
unpolluted area and having rich biodiversity. It is also suitable field for the researchers who are
interested to research on the biodiversity, flora and fauna and the culture around the park.
Lodging and food catering, transportation facilities and certain legislations laid by the park
administration and Nepal government have supported the park to be a complete destination for
ecotourism.
Due to the lack of marketing strategy, political stability, security, infrastructure and the
knowledge transfer to the grass root level Nepal has not getting complete benefit from the
tourism sector, though we have lots of potentiality.
5. References
1. Kunwar Ramesh Raj , 2006, Tourist and Tourism Science and Industry Interface, Kathmandu;
International School of Tourism and Hotel Management.
2. Goswami B.K. and G. Ravindran, 2005, A Text Book of Tourism, New Delhi; Har-Anand
publications.
3. Wearing, Stephen and Joanne McLean, 1997, Developing Ecotourism: A community Based
Approach, Australia; HM Lesure Plannin g Pty.
4. Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Babar Mahal Kathmandu 2005,
htto//:www.dnpwc.gov.np.
5. Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Babar Mahal Kathmandu 2007,
htto//:www.dnpwc.gov.np

6. Photos