Community-Driven Ecotourism Near Bangalore: Adapting to Change

Abstract

While the previous chapters explored various livelihood opportunities and responses adopted by forest peripheral communities, in this chapter, the authors closely examine emerging alternatives in urbanising landscapes. For communities in forest peripheries who find their traditional livelihoods threatened by conservation policies and development projects, ecotourism has been an appealing livelihood strategy. This chapter explores how adoption of this potential opportunity by the peri-urban communities is often pre-empted by several factors. In the case of those communities living close to natural and cultural heritage and also simultaneously peripheral to growing urban regions, ecotourism becomes all the more attractive, given the vast demand from the urban populace. However, inherent conservation bias and corporate mode of operation of most ecotourism initiatives leave many among the peripheral communities untouched by the benefits of urbanisation while getting deprived of their traditional livelihoods. Based on interviews with a sample of potential tourists, this chapter examines the scope and feasibility of ecotourism ventures in three sites that lie on the peripheries of urban and natural landscapes. The results throw light on the attitudes of potential tourists about linking leisure travel with socioecological causes and on the challenges that such an adaptive livelihood venture potentially face.