Udaya Sekhar Nagothu
Rogaland Research, PO Box 8046, Stavanger N-4068, Norway.
J Environ Manage. 2003 Dec;69(4):339-47. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2003.09.002.
Conservationists in the recent years view local peoples' support for protected areas management as an important element of biodiversity conservation. This is often linked to the direct benefits, which local communities get from the protected areas. These benefits could be in the form of biomass resources, park funds diverted to local villages by state agencies and revenue from wildlife tourism. There are a very few studies which have attempted to study the direct relationship between benefits from wildlife tourism and local support for conservation. In India, wildlife tourism is restricted, and mostly controlled by state and private agencies. Wildlife conservation policy does not view tourism in protected areas as a source of revenue for the local communities. The present study examines the local people's attitudes towards wildlife tourism and the impact of benefits from tourism on the local support for Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR), India. STR is a flagship for tourism where protected areas are increasingly being visited and where local support for wildlife tourism has not been studied adequately. Results indicate that two-thirds of the respondents were positive towards tourism and support for conservation. The respondents were aware that more tourism benefits are possible from a well-conserved protected area. There appears to be correlation between benefits obtained by local people from wildlife tourism and other sources, and support for protected area existence, suggesting that benefits impact people's attitudes towards conservation. Some of the main problems are the unequal distribution of tourism benefits, lack of locals' involvement in tourism and development. There is a need to clearly address these issues, so that protected areas may get the support of local people, which may lead to sustainable development.
近年来，自然资源保护主义者将当地居民对保护区管理的支持视为生物多样性保护的一个重要因素。这通常与当地社区从保护区获得的直接利益有关。这些利益可能表现为生物量资源、国家机构转拨到当地村庄的公园资金以及野生动物旅游业的收入。很少有研究试图探讨野生动物旅游业带来的利益与当地对保护工作的支持之间的直接关系。在印度，野生动物旅游受到限制，且大多由国家和私人机构控制。野生动物保护政策并不将保护区内的旅游视为当地社区的收入来源。本研究调查了当地居民对野生动物旅游的态度，以及旅游带来的利益对印度萨里卡老虎保护区（STR）当地支持度的影响。STR是旅游的旗舰地，越来越多的人前往该保护区，而当地对野生动物旅游的支持情况尚未得到充分研究。结果表明，三分之二的受访者对旅游持积极态度并支持保护工作。受访者意识到，一个保护良好的保护区能带来更多的旅游收益。当地居民从野生动物旅游及其他来源获得的利益与对保护区存续的支持之间似乎存在关联，这表明利益会影响人们对保护工作的态度。一些主要问题包括旅游收益分配不均、当地人缺乏对旅游及发展的参与。有必要明确解决这些问题，以便保护区能够获得当地居民的支持，进而实现可持续发展。
