Sustainable tourism in Vembanad backwaters
Dr. Latha Bhaskar, the project coordinator, Community Environment Resources Center (CERC), Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), has been seriously engaged in research studies on sustainable tourism. In this article she shares few of her findings.
The greatest challenge in dealing with the multidimensional problems in the backwater sector stems from our inability to generate the necessary synergy and convergences among the numerous stakeholders. It is high time to think about how to balance growth with wise use of resources and engage with these issues in a progressive manner. This is especially true and significant in the case of tourism industry, due to its dependence on the delicate ecology of the backwaters. The long-term sustenance of tourismin the region depends on the strategies adopted today. The conservation and development policies need to bee reviewed and restructured in this context, to address the pressing environmental challenges of the region. (more…)
Surrounded by coconut plantation on the eastern shore of Lake Vembanad in Kumarakom at the mouth of the River Kavanar, is Coconut Lagoon, a CGH Earth Group Kerala Tourism property that has water and history as its defining elements.