Ecotourism – a Platform for Development

"Naturally Nepal, Once is not enough". This year is introduced as Nepal Tourism Year (NTY) 2011. Nepal is a natural ecotourism destination. Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has aimed for one million tourists through this program. The amazing blend of fascinating landscape, unique bio-diversity and the cultural heritage of Nepal make it into the six most popular ecotourism destinations in Asia and Pacific. NTB is expecting to establish Nepal as a choice of premier holiday destination with a definite brand image. In an area of 147188 km square, the landscape of Nepal changes from the lowlands towards the highest mountains in the world. This is truly a land of extreme diversity. Despite of its relatively small size, Nepal contain significant percentage of wildlife such as 2.04% of the world's flowering higher plants and 8.6% of its birds. it contain some 5833 species of gymnosperms and flowering plants with some 315 endemic species of higher plants, 847 bird species, 185 mammal species, 43 amphibian species and 185 fresh water fish species have been identified in Nepal.
Ecotourism is the true value of the irreplaceable beauty of Nepal. For a developing country like Nepal, ecotourism is a sector for comparative long lasting advantage in national income. The number of big stakeholders like travel and trekking agencies, hotel owners as well as small business holders like tea shop owners, guides, small entrepreneurs and other Nepalese involved in tourist industry progress with the prosperity of ecotourism. The most common benefit of ecotourism perceived in Nepal is the park fee generated by tourism in the conservation areas and part of it spent for the local community. The exchange of cultures and maintenance of the environment are highly encouraged through these eco-friendly tourism practices. The exposure to the standard life styles of foreign land in a way influence our socio-culture positively. NTY 2011 has targeted to enhance the capacity of service providers. With this...