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Green Adventures

Villagers are taught how to be good hosts and care for the environment as well

SARITDET MARUKATAT

The government of Laos plans to use a United Nations award-winning project at Nam Ha in the northern province of Luang Namtha as a model for eco-tourism development in other parts of the country.

Located in the Nam Ha national bio-diversity conservation area, the project could boost the pull of Luang Namtha, which is already a new heaven for trekkers and backpackers visiting the landlocked country, while the old capital of Luang Prabang attracts history lovers.

The project won the UN Development Award last year for showing villagers how to earn extra money from tourism to help beat poverty, while keeping nature unspoilt.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, designer and developer of the scheme, was delighted at Nam Ha's triumph. In a formal statement, Richard Engelhardt, Unesco regional advisor for culture in Asia and the Pacific, called it ``a model of indigenous community management of the environment, based on traditional knowledge, put to modern, economic use.''

``This award shows a carefully designed and managed project can balance the two goals successfully,'' said New Zealand Associate Foreign and Trade Minister Matt Robson. New Zealand and the World Bank's International Finance Co-operation helped finance the project.

Developed three years ago, the project draws on the experience of countries in Central America. It chose as its site a place even Lao people consider remote, let alone foreigners, in order to prove that tourism and environmental protection are compatible.

The UN agency and the Lao National Tourism Authority trained local guides in basic English-language skills, first aid care, and some historical background information to tell visitors. Ethnic villagers learned to be good hosts.

A try-out was conducted in 1999 on a trekking route through part of the conservation areas, measuring a total of 222,400 hectares, with Ban Nalane, a Khmu-ethnic village, picked as an overnight stop. ``The villagers were excited and they really liked the idea'', said Heather Peters, a Unesco consultant for culture and a project co-ordinator who took part in it from the blueprint.

The official launch took place last year with trekkers choosing forest trips of between one to three days or boat trips down the Nam Ha river. The cost for the two-day trekking is US$24, meals included, with another $2 in charges for the trekking permit. The money is divided between the local guide association, the NTA office in Luang Namtha, and village administrations for future development projects. The extra fee goes to manage the protected areas. But villagers can earn money for themselves by selling souvenirs and handicraft to visitors.

Trekkers are briefed before beginning their journey and reminded of their duty to help conserve nature along the way. ``Tourists like it'', Ms Peters said, ``because they know where their money goes and what they can and can't do.

``They also prefer local guides to outsiders to lead them'', said Bountheng Souliyanonh, a provincial tourism official.

At present, French trekkers are the main customers of the project, many learning about it from brochures and leaflets circulated at guesthouses in Luang Namtha.

Some have to wait for days for treks with overnight stays because these are limited to three a week with each group limited to a maximum of eight people to ensure organisers control of the forest.

``It gives them a chance to see wild trees and flowers and, if they're lucky, they will see some wild animals such as deer and moneys'' in addition to the ways of life of ethnic Lao, Mr Bountheng said.

But organisers do not let tourism take over their traditions and customs by making clear to villagers the need to continue farming activities and balance them with new enterprises. Abandoning their traditions to turn the villages into tourist attractions would be a mistake and finally put an end to tourism too, they said.

``Unesco wants to see them be proud of traditional lives and feel that visitors are coming because of their appreciation and give them a boost to preserve tradition'', Ms Peters said.

Tourists also are barred from ritual festivals and ceremonies which villagers don't want them to observe or join so that they feel comfortable about continuing their ways of life.

``Certain aspects of their tradition shouldn't be accessible to tourism. That should be a part of their daily life,'' she said.

``If they don't want tourists to observe certain rituals, that is their decision'', she said.

She insisted that ``the government should not force them to open up to tourists on things that are normally private''.

Following the success of the Nam Ha eco-tourism project, the government plans to introduce it to other conservation areas in a bid to establish the country's position as a place for eco-tourism for nature lovers.

Tourism is the up-and-coming foreign exchange earner for Laos, thanks in part to the Visit Lao Year campaign in 1999 and 2000. About 700,000 visitors went to Laos in 2000, an increase of 20% on 1999, and last year's records, which are yet to be released, were expected to be on par due to the decline of travellers as a result of the global economic slump and infrastructure problems in Laos.

The NTA is drawing lessons from the Nam Ha project in Luang Namtha possibly with a long-term view to introducing eco-tours in Vientiane, Borikhamsay and Savannakhet in central Laos, and in the southern region, said Sonh Manivong, who is in charge of planning and co-operation.

But Ms Peters cautioned against any hurry to expand, saying that careful management and the building up of local capacities and strengths were crucial. Nam Ha ``is a very fragile model'', she said.

``Eco-tourism is not just walking through the forest,'' the Unesco official reiterated.

``It's contributing directly to the protection of the environment and to the communities living in that environment''.