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ECOSS ACTIVITIES QUARTERLY REPORT SEPTEMBER 2006 Ecotourism & Conservation Society of Sikkim NEWSLETTER m ECOSS Activities 1. Sikkim Himalayan Homestay Project 2. Community Small Grants Scheme 3. Ecotourism Training at Kerala 4. w Indian Lion w How long does it take for rubbish to decay? w Facts about Sikkim w Tourist inflow in Sikkim A symposium on ‘Nathula Reality’ 5. Pro-poor Sustainable Tourism - SNV project 6. Japanese University Exposure Study Tour 7. Seminar on Micro Financing Sikkim Himalayan Homestay Project Under the Sikkim Himalayan Homestay project the various activities have were undertaken include the following: Activities No. of Duration Date Venue Participants Homestay 25 3 days 24 -26 April Dzongu Hospitality N.Sikkim Training Monitoring 12 1 day 27 April Dzongu & Evaluation N.Sikkim Training Naturalist 32 3 days 28 -30 April Dzongu Guides N. Sikkim Training Naturalist 38 4 days 17 -20 June Yuksam Guides S. Sikkim Training & Homestay Hospitality Training World 100 1 day 5 June Dzongu Environment N. Sikkim Day Seminar on 64 2 days 14-15 July Gangtok Ecotourism E. Sikkim Initiatives in Sikkim Campsite Management Some of the Output of the Project include the following: 4Development of Sikkim Himalayan Homestay Brochure. 4Homestay Newsletter published and distributed to all the CBOs, NGOs, members, travel agencies, government departments and others. 4A Ecotourism Information Booklet for Homestay developed for each project site, awaiting printing.. ECOSS Newsletter ECOSS Newsletter In This Edition Dear Readers, This is a humble approach to update all our members regarding the activities of ECOSS. You can make this e-newsletter interesting by contributing your articles concerning ecotourism and conservation issues. Please let us know on ways to improve our information dissemination process. Any comments or ideas are most welcome. Renzinlo Lepcha Executive Secretary
Transcript
Page 1: Ecoss Newsletter- Sept - Stanford University · 2008-04-13 · NEWSLETTER m ECOSS Activities 1. Sikkim Himalayan Homestay Project 2. Community Small Grants Scheme 3. Ecotourism Training

ECOSS ACTIVITIES QUARTERLY REPORT

SEPTEMBER 2006Ecotourism & Conservation Society of Sikkim

NEWSLETTER

m ECOSS Activities

1. Sikkim Himalayan Homestay Project

2. Community Small Grants Scheme

3. Ecotourism Training at Kerala

4.

w Indian Lion

w How long does it take for rubbish to decay?

w Facts about Sikkim

w Tourist inflow in Sikkim

A symposium on ‘Nathula Reality’

5. Pro-poor Sustainable Tourism - SNV project

6. Japanese University Exposure Study Tour

7. Seminar on Micro Financing

Sikkim Himalayan Homestay Project

Under the Sikkim Himalayan Homestay project the various activities have were undertaken include the following:

Activities No. of Duration Date Venue Participants

Homestay 25 3 days 24 -26 April DzonguHospitality N.SikkimTraining

Monitoring 12 1 day 27 April Dzongu& EvaluationN.SikkimTraining

Naturalist 32 3 days 28 -30 April DzonguGuides N. SikkimTraining

Naturalist 38 4 days 17 -20 June YuksamGuides S. SikkimTraining &Homestay Hospitality Training

World 100 1 day 5 June DzonguEnvironment N. SikkimDay

Seminar on 64 2 days 14-15 July GangtokEcotourism E. SikkimInitiatives in Sikkim

Campsite Management

Some of the Output of the Project include the following:

4Development of Sikkim Himalayan Homestay Brochure.

4Homestay Newsletter published and distributed to all the CBOs, NGOs, members, travel agencies, government departments and others.

4A Ecotourism Information Booklet for Homestay developed for each project site, awaiting printing..

E C O S S N e w s l e t t e rE C O S S N e w s l e t t e r

I n T h i s E d i t i o n

Dear Readers,

This is a humble approach to update all our members regarding the activities of ECOSS.

You can make this e-newsletter interesting by contributing your articles concerning ecotourism and conservation issues. Please let us know on ways to improve our information dissemination process. Any comments or ideas are most welcome.

Renzinlo LepchaExecutive Secretary

Page 2: Ecoss Newsletter- Sept - Stanford University · 2008-04-13 · NEWSLETTER m ECOSS Activities 1. Sikkim Himalayan Homestay Project 2. Community Small Grants Scheme 3. Ecotourism Training

Community Small Grants Scheme

Community Small Grants Scheme (SGS) was implemented under the Department of Planning and Economic Reforms and North Eastern Council Affairs, Government of Sikkim. A small grant was made available and this was mobilized effectively to address the water and sanitation issues in greater Gangtok and in other parts of Sikkim. A screening committee was formed whcih consisted of different representatives from key government departments and NGOs who approved the different projects which were taken up for implementation.

The different projects undertaken were the following

4. Upper Dara Gaon Solid Waste Management Project5. Sama Junior High School Sanitation Project6. Panchayat Colony Water Supply Project7. Upper Karek Cannan Church Sanitation Project

PROJECT OUTPUTS

· 6 water supply and sanitation projects successfully completed

· 2900 people benefitted with the project out of which 1478 were male and 1440 were female.

· An amount of Rs. 4,38,240 was spent for the implementation of the project under the scheme.

1. Middle Syari Water Supply Project2. Mangar Colony Drain Project3. Lingdok School Sanitation Project

In a poor zoo of India a lion was frustrated as he was offered not more than 1 kg meat a day.

The lion thought its prayers were answered when one US Zoo Manager visited the zoo and requested the zoo management to shift the lion to the US Zoo. The lion was so happy and started thinking of a central A/c environment, a goat or two every day and a US Green Card also. On its first day after arrival, the lion was offered a big bag, sealedvery nicely for breakfast. The lion opened it quickly but was shocked to see that it contained few bananas.

Ecotourism workshop cum Training for IFS Officers

Thekkady, Kerala

A two days workshop cum training was organized in Perirar Tiger Reserve by Wildlife Institute of India for senior level IFS officers on 5th and 6th July 2006 Renzino Lepcha of ECOSS was invited as a resource person to share a case study and facilitate the ecotourism enterprise and community empowerment session.

Key recommendations were drafted for submission to the MoeF.

The strong conservation approaches and how the forest department was using ecotourism as a tool for conservation was clearly demonstrated through its various programs and activities. The ecotourism workshop recommendations are available for members for research and study work.

Then the lion thought that may be they cared too much for him as they were worried about his stomach as he had recently shifted from India.

The next day the same thing happened. On the third day again the same food bag of bananas was delivered.

The lion was so furious; it stopped the delivery boyAnd blasted at himyou know I am the lion...king of the Jungle...,what's wrong with your management? What nonsense is this? Why are you delivering bananas to me?' The delivery boy politely said, 'Sir, I know you arethe king of the jungle but ... did you know that you have beenbrought here on a monkey's visa!!!

Better to be a Lion in India than a Monkey elsewhere!!! !!

Indian Lion

Community Small Grants Scheme

Community Small Grants Scheme (SGS) was implemented under the Department of Planning and Economic Reforms and North Eastern Council Affairs, Government of Sikkim. A small grant was made available and this was mobilized effectively to address the water and sanitation issues in greater Gangtok and in other parts of Sikkim. A screening committee was formed whcih consisted of different representatives from key government departments and NGOs who approved the different projects which were taken up for implementation.

The different projects undertaken were the following

4. Upper Dara Gaon Solid Waste Management Project5. Sama Junior High School Sanitation Project6. Panchayat Colony Water Supply Project7. Upper Karek Cannan Church Sanitation Project

PROJECT OUTPUTS

· 6 water supply and sanitation projects successfully completed

· 2900 people benefitted with the project out of which 1478 were male and 1440 were female.

· An amount of Rs. 4,38,240 was spent for the implementation of the project under the scheme.

1. Middle Syari Water Supply Project2. Mangar Colony Drain Project3. Lingdok School Sanitation Project

In a poor zoo of India a lion was frustrated as he was offered not more than 1 kg meat a day.

The lion thought its prayers were answered when one US Zoo Manager visited the zoo and requested the zoo management to shift the lion to the US Zoo. The lion was so happy and started thinking of a central A/c environment, a goat or two every day and a US Green Card also. On its first day after arrival, the lion was offered a big bag, sealedvery nicely for breakfast. The lion opened it quickly but was shocked to see that it contained few bananas.

Ecotourism workshop cum Training for IFS Officers

Thekkady, Kerala

A two days workshop cum training was organized in Perirar Tiger Reserve by Wildlife Institute of India for senior level IFS officers on 5th and 6th July 2006 Renzino Lepcha of ECOSS was invited as a resource person to share a case study and facilitate the ecotourism enterprise and community empowerment session.

Key recommendations were drafted for submission to the MoeF.

The strong conservation approaches and how the forest department was using ecotourism as a tool for conservation was clearly demonstrated through its various programs and activities. The ecotourism workshop recommendations are available for members for research and study work.

Then the lion thought that may be they cared too much for him as they were worried about his stomach as he had recently shifted from India.

The next day the same thing happened. On the third day again the same food bag of bananas was delivered.

The lion was so furious; it stopped the delivery boyAnd blasted at himyou know I am the lion...king of the Jungle...,what's wrong with your management? What nonsense is this? Why are you delivering bananas to me?' The delivery boy politely said, 'Sir, I know you arethe king of the jungle but ... did you know that you have beenbrought here on a monkey's visa!!!

Better to be a Lion in India than a Monkey elsewhere!!! !!

Indian Lion

Newspaper a few weeks

Leather shoes up to 50 years

Cardboard boxes several months

Thin plastic up to 5 years

Green leaves a few weeks

Rubber Tyres unknown

Plastic bags 10-20 years or even hundreds of years, depending on the type of plastic

Scrap metals up to 50 years

Aluminium cans up to 80 years

Plastic bottles hundreds of years

Glass fragments Thousands of years

E C O S S N e w s l e t t e rE C O S S N e w s l e t t e r

How long does it take for rubbish to decay ?

Page 3: Ecoss Newsletter- Sept - Stanford University · 2008-04-13 · NEWSLETTER m ECOSS Activities 1. Sikkim Himalayan Homestay Project 2. Community Small Grants Scheme 3. Ecotourism Training

A Symposium on ‘Nathula Reality’

thA symposium on 'Nathula Reality' was held at Gangtok on the 30 of June 2006. The participants were an eclectic mix representing civil society including representatives from various NGOs and educational institutions, professionals, students and representatives from religious institutions. The symposium was held to understand the issues and concerns with relation to the reopening of the Nathula trade. This was the first ever kind of a civil society meet to genuinely understand the implications of an important event and to also flag off issues that may be relevant to the people of Sikkim in the future.

The event was a purely civil society driven initiative to discuss the prospects and lacuna of the 'Nathula Reality'. Such a civil society meet was triggered due to many questions which were not in the public domain. Participants were informed about the trade potential and the various developmental issues which the government had taken up very successfully.

The discussions and deliberations focused on trying to understand the positive and negative fallouts of the Nathula Trade and how people of Sikkim could be best positioned to benefit from this event. Some of the important issues that came up included the following

The meeting conducted with a note that civil society groups should continue to meet and debate how these developments would secure the future of Sikkim. It would have to be in a responsible manner that civil society needs to address these issues and not take it up in an activist mode this was made very clear before the closure of the symposium.

Stakeholder Workshop on Pro-Poor Sustainable Tourism (PPST)

A Stakeholder Workshop on Pro Poor Sustainable Tourism was organized by the Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation Ltd.

th(STDC) at Gangtok on 11 August 2006. The workshop was organized as part of the State of the Art study/Feasibility study for a proposed project proposal to be jointly developed by STDC, SNV, the Netherlands Development Agency and ICIMOD, Nepal.

The workshop was an endeavor to bring all the stakeholders on a common platform to jointly identify the key destinations in Sikkim, based on tourism potential and poverty reduction criteria's, where pro poor sustainable tourism could be developed. These identified destinations would thereafter undergo a feasibility study to be undertaken by the consultants who would look in to tourism planning aspects and the institutional arrangements that would support poverty reduction oriented sustainable tourism development in Sikkim.

The workshop was well attended by all the stakeholders concerned including representatives from the Government Departmentst, NABARD, the Private Sector was represented by Travel Agents Association of Sikkim (TAAS), Sikkim Association of Tour Operators (SATO) and the Sikkim Hotel & Restaurant Association (SHRA) and the civil society groups

Mr. John Hummel gave an introduction of the Prop Poor Sustainable Tourism project and emphasied the mandate and goal of the project.

A destination selection matrix exercise was jointly carried out participants. Participants were divided into three groups, each representing one of the stakeholder groups, viz. the Government, the Private sector and the NGOs/CBOs. Each group was given a destination scoring matrix sheet wherein they were to score the destinations.

Upon completion of the matrix scoring, the scores were then tabulated for each group across the seven destinations. Finally four destinations were selected for undertaking the feasibility study.

1. Barsey-Uttarey, 2. Ravangla Namchi, 3. TsomgoRhenock4. Dzongu - Mangan

It was decided that the two major tourist destinations in West Sikkim and North Sikkim would not be undertaken but the market linkage would be strengthened so that the potential market is tapped

Mr. Dong proposed the vote of thanks and the workshop concluded on an optimistic note.

Tourist Inflow in Sikkim

E C O S S N e w s l e t t e rE C O S S N e w s l e t t e r

Tourist Arrivals 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05

Domestic 160789 201108 234394 International 8439 12389 14774

2005-2006

Domestic arrivals 271107

International 16552

Page 4: Ecoss Newsletter- Sept - Stanford University · 2008-04-13 · NEWSLETTER m ECOSS Activities 1. Sikkim Himalayan Homestay Project 2. Community Small Grants Scheme 3. Ecotourism Training

ECOSS facilitated the group of 18 students from Waseda Univeristy, Tokyo who visited Sikkim from 14th to 17th August 2006. The main objective of their visit was to meet and interact with civil societies who were interested in general development issues in Sikkim, including poverty reduction, women's empowerment, modernization and environment conservation issues and conservation of culture and language in school education. They met and interacted with the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Sikkim Dr. Pawan Chamling, Researcher and Scientist from Sikkim Government College, members from Association for Social Health in India, Buddhist scholars and various NGO heads.

An interactive seminar on Micro Financing was conducted by ECOSS which was held on 31st August 2006 at Gangtok. Mr. Nesheto Doulo one of the representative from Entrepreneurs Association in Nagaland was the main resource person. He highlighted on the prospect of employment generation scheme via the same non-governmental organization for the unemployed youths of Sikkim. He shared about the great challenges faced by him and his fellow friends towards the formation of Entrepreneurs Association way back in 2000 and there by employ some 500 unemployed youths in different forms of profitable business. He shared his micro financing team’s journey from penniless nobodies to a group that can now finance projects from Rs. 5000 up to Rs. 7 Lakhs. The seminar was well attended by various CBOs, NGOs, ECOSS members and representatives from the media.

Seminar on Micro Financing

! Clean up campaign at Yuksam (UNESCO Project) - September 2006

A one day Clean up campaign will be organized at Yuksam, where ECOSS, KCC and Ecotourism Service Provider Association of

Yuklsam (ESPAY) alongwioth the local community would be involved in cleaning all the solid waste and garbage at Yuksam Bazar.

The accumulated waste at the incinerator would also be disposed at Jorethang.

Institutional Strengthening Training for Homestay project partners. - September 2006

Two days Institutional Strengthening Training will be organized by ECOSS for the project partners from the four district of Sikkim.

The training program is scheduled to be held at Kewzing village.

Pro- Poor Sustainable Tourism (PPST)- Stakeholders Meeting- Last week of September 2006

The final Stakeholders meeting will be organized by Sikkim Tourism Development Cooperation and SNV to present

! Consultancy on Development of Community Based Tourism at Bhimtal Catchment Area, Uttaranchal- October 2006

! Appreciative Participatory and Planning Action (APPA)- Training for IFS officers- November 2006 - The services of ECOSS is

being hired by the Uttaranchal Government to conduct a training for IFS officers in the Jim Corbett National Park on participatory

planning approaches.

!

!

a feasibility

study report conducted by consultants on tourism planning aspects and the institutional arrangements that would support poverty

reduction oriented sustainable tourism development in Sikkim.

ECOSS has been offered a consultancy by GBPIHED in Uttaranchal to develop a plan of action and a road map for sustainable

ecotourism in the Bhimtal catchment area. The engagement for the initiative would be a maximum of two visits annually. The

objective of the assignmenmt would be to develop community based ecotourism for local communities of Bhimtal catchment area and

to ensure socioeconomic and environmental benefits to the local population.

Japanese University Exposure Study Group

Ecotourism and Conservation Society of SikkimOmega Church Building, Development Area,

P.O. Box- 64, Gangtok- 737 101, Sikkim India.

Ph. +91 3592 228211, Telefax: +91 3593 229183.

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.ecossikkim.org

UPCOMING EVENTS

Biodiversity

! Area 7096 Sq Km

! Population 5.40 Lakh (2001)

! Density of population 76 persons per Sq Km

! Districts 4

! Sub Divisions 9

! Revenue Blocks 453

! Gram Panchayats 166

! Towns 9

! Geographical Area 7,096 Sq Km

! Total Forest area 84 %

! Total Forest Cover: 46%

! Major Forest types 9

! Glaciers 21

! Mountains & Peaks 28

! Rivers and streams 104

! Lakes and Wetlands 227

! Smiriti Vans 166

! Herbal Gardens 13

E C O S S N e w s l e t t e rE C O S S N e w s l e t t e r

Facts about Sikkim


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