bardia national park: destination for eco- tour

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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. Saubhagya 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

2Kunwar Ramesh Raj , 2006, Tourist and Tourism Science and Industry Interface, Kathmandu; International

School of Tourism and Hotel Management3

Theoland,1997; in Kunwar, 2006:2

4Goswami 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

5Kunwar Ramesh Raj , 2006, Tourist and Tourism Science and Industry Interface, Kathmandu; International

School of Tourism and Hotel Management6

Ryan; 1991:5 in Kunwar 2006:37

Nielsen, 2001:12;in Kunwar,2006

8Tourism Steering Group, 1978; Ryan 1991; in Kunwar 2006:5

9Kunwar, 2006:10

10Valene 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.

11Boo, 1990; Lindberg, 1991; Hummel;1996; in Kunwar, Ramesh Raj, 2006

12Wearing, 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:

13Ryan, Chris,1991 in Kunwar, Ramesh Raj, 2006, Tourist and Tourism Science and Industry Interface,

Kathmandu; International School of Tourism and Hotel Management14

Goswami B.K. and G. Ravindran, 2005, A Text Book of Tourism , New Delhi; Har-Anand publications15

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, mountains, 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 gaining, 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 bythe 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.

16Wearing, 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.

17Ibid



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 199918.

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

18Department 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 game 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

19Ibid

20Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, babar Mahal Kathmandu 2007,




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 Hotel, 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



Banda21 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 Kathmandu 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 nationalpark 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.

21Banda, 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 Planning 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,


6. Photos

bardia national park: destination for eco- tour

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