Ecotourism and alternative livelihood options in Upper Siang district, Arunachal Pradesh, India

Mountain communities in the eastern Himalayas are being subjected to rapid developmental pressures that threaten to disrupt their traditional livelihoods and culture. Ecotourism is seen as a solution towards balancing development and environmental conservation. I investigate the potential for effective ecotourism initiatives and alternative livelihood options that cause minimum damage to the local environment and promote greater understanding of indigenous cultures among tourists from across the world. I identify four major activities that include nature based tourism, homestays, trekking and sale of handicrafts and other locally made items. To understand the challenges involved in implementing some of these initiatives, I also visited successful sites in Sikkim and West Bengal to study their best practices. The complexities of each activity and the potential challenges uncovered through this study demonstrate the need for detailed field research on ecotourism potential before their actual implementation.