Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods through Ecotourism: A Prospective Look in Northeast India

The communities and the northeastern region of India, which has rich biodiversity ‘hotspots’, have conserved and sustainably used the region’s natural resources based on their traditional belief systems and ecological knowledge. The region with its distinct culture and geographical entity still remains in many respects an ‘undiscovered tourist’s paradise’—and has huge potential for development of ‘eco-tourism’. It has been advocated within the academic literature that ecotourism intend to enable communities to benefit from the use of natural and cultural resources available to them by fostering sustainable socio-economic development while maintaining the integrity of those resources. In short, ecotourism can integrate conservation of biodiversity with sustainable livelihoods of local communities. Given the paucity of information and research on ecotourism in the region—this study attempts to explore the awareness, concern, perceptions of and support for ecotourism among residents living adjacent to the tourist sites. Based on my study of the enchanting Dzukou valley (a tourist destination) located at the border of the Indian states of Manipur and Nagaland, this paper tries to understand how and to what extent ecotourism has the potency to preserve the environmental and cultural heritage of the region and rural communities? . Using secondary data, in-depth interviews, a survey, and participant observation, the study also locates the prospective areas and opportunities of potentiality of ecotourism which can strengthen both rural livelihoods and protect biodiversity. The study also seeks to find out the future prospect of ecotourism in the region.