The study has explored how the local community’s involvement in the tourism activities under Community Based Ecotourism (CBET) can be increased through small interventions and partnerships.
In order to gain insight from existing CBET activities in Nepal, a rapid assessment of two existing community based ecotourism destinations, namely the Baghmara Community Forest (BCF) in Chitwan (CHAL/TAL) and Ghalegaon village in Lamjung district (CHAL), has been made. In addition to investigating successful ecotourism activities, a third case study of the Sirubari village in Syangja district was also documented in the report.
As the tourism sites in the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) and Chitwan Annapurna Landscape (CHAL) are isolated from the main tourism market they will require external support in the initial years to be sustainable. While CBET activities have been successful overall, much can be learned from their mistakes.
Although forest covers 40 per cent of Nepal, the forestry sector’s potential to generate huge employment opportunities is largely untapped. Private sector involvement and investment could create 1.38 million work days a year.