CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION- .1 1.1.1 Ecotourism as a Sustainable Management Option for Protected Areas1 1.1.2 Ecotourism in India ..- ..2 1.1.3 Ecotourism in Kerala..- 3 1.2 NEED FOR THE STUDY..- ..4 1.3 PROBLEM DEFINITION- ..6 1.4 AIM OF STUDY..- ..6 1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY..- 6 1.6 METHODOLOGY- .6 1.7 SCOPE OF STUDY..- 8 1.8 ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS..- ..8 2 ECOTOURISM AND PROTECTED AREAS 10 2.1 PRINCIPLES OF ECOTOURISM ..- ..10 2.2 BENEFITS OF ECOTOURISM ..- .10 2.3 TYPES OF ECOTOURISM- ..11 2.4 THE IUCN CLASSIFICATION OF PROTECTED AREAS11 2.5 UNDERSTANDING CARRYING CAPACITIES OF PROTECTED AREAS12 3 INTRODUCTION TO PARAMBIKULAM WILDLIFE SANCTUARY14 3.1 SIGNIFICANCE OF PARAMBIKULAM WILDLIFE SANCTUARY ..14 3.2 EVOLUTION OF PARAMBIKULAM WILDLIFE SANCTUARY ..15 3.3 LOCATION- 17 3.4 EXTENT AND CONSTITUTION ..- ..17 3.5 ACCESSIBILITY TO THE WILDLIFE SANCTUARY 18 3.6 BOUNDARIES OF THE SANCTUARY ..- 18 3.6.1 Administrative boundaries of the sanctuary 18 3.6.2 Ecological boundaries of the sanctuary ..19 3.7 PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES OF THE SANCTUARY ..- 19 3.7.1 Terrain.- ..19 3.7.2 Soil- .20 3.7.3 Climatic attributes ..- ..20 3.7.4 Temperature- 21 3.7.5 Rainfall ..- .21 3.7.6 Wind- 22 RESOURCES OF PARAMBIKULAM WILDLIFE SANCTUARY..23 3.8 VEGETATION ..- ..23 3.8.1 Natural Forests.- .23 3.8.2 Teak Plantations ..- 27 3.8.3 Eucalyptus Plantations ..- .27 3.9 MINERALS ..- ..28 3.10 FAUNA..- ..28 3.10.1 Mammals ..- ..28 3.10.2 Birds ..- 29 3.10.3 Reptiles ..- .30 3.10.4 Amphibians ..- 30 3.10.5 Fishes..- 31 3.11 PEOPLE ..- ..32 3.11.1 Settlements inside the sanctuary ..- ..32 3.11.2 Settlements on the fringes of the sanctuary- 36 SITUATION ANALYSIS ..- .38 3.12 EXTERNALITIES AND THREATS TO DEVELOPMENT ..38 3.12.1 Sanctuary resource use by Government agencies..38 3.13 PEOPLE SANCTUARY SITUATION ..- ..40 3.13.1 Impact of people on the sanctuary- ..40 3.13.2 Impact of sanctuary on the people..- 40 3.13.3 Past community development initiatives- .41 3.13.5 Peoples perception of the Sanctuary Managers 41 3.13.6 Issues in forest management- ..42 3.13.7 Tourism and Visitor management- 43 3.13.8 Wildlife Conservation Status ..- ..44 4 STAKEHOLDER NEEDS AND TOURIST DEMAND ..46 4.1 KERALA FOREST DEPARTMENT ..- 46 4.2 KERALA TOURISM DEPARTMENT- ..46 4.3 LOCALS ..- 47 4.4 TOURISTS- .47 PROGRAMME OBJECTIVE- ..51 4.5 OBJECTIVES ..- 51 5 ASSESSMENT OF CAPACITY- ..53 5.1 ASSESSMENT OF THE KERALA FOREST DEPARTMENT..53 5.1.1 The Organisation Structure of the Forest and Wildlife Department in Kerala ..53 5.1.2 Administrative Setup of Kerala Forest Department 53 5.1.3 The Enactment, Ordinance or Legislation Pertaining to the Kerala Forest Department.54 5.1.4 Administrative setup ..- 56 5.1.5 Conclusion- .57 5.2 ASSESSMENT OF CAPACITY OF LOCALS FOR INVOLVEMENT IN THE ECOTOURISM PROGRAMME58 5.3 ASSESSMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE..- ..66 6 PROGRAMME CONCEPTION ..- ..69 6.1 ACTIVITY- .69 6.1.1 Activities promoted in ecotourism ..- 69 6.1.2 Facilities required for ecotourism activities7- 0 6.1.3 Support services required by activities 70 6.1.4 Current Status of the tourism programme inParambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary71 6.2 EMPLOYMENT GENERATION FROM THE PROGRAMME72 6.4 PROJECT VIABILITY- ..74 6.5 IMPACTS ..- 76 6.5.1 Effects of Ecotourism Activities ..- ..76 6.5.2 Direct Effects of Ecotourism- ..77 6.5.3 Indirect Effects of Ecotourism ..- 77 6.6 AREA ..- 78 6.6.1 Existing Zoning..- 78 6.6.2 Identification of Sensitive areas..- ..80 6.6.3 Zonation- ..88 6.6.4 Siting Of Activities ..- ..90 7 RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK OF THE PROGRAMME ..- .92 Phase One ..- .92 Phase Two- 93 ANNEXURES ..- 94 REFERENCES- 109 ABBREVATIONS- ..110