Investigating Environmental Transgressions at Corbett Tiger Reserve, India

Tanmay Sharma,Wan-Yu Liu,Joseph S Chen

doi:10.3390/su11205766

Tanmay Sharma, Wan-Yu Liu + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205766

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Abstract

Through a qualitative lens involving both in-depth interviews and focus groups, this research attempts to probe the issues of environmental transgressions caused by tourists and tourism providers in one of the oldest and largest national parks in India, the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR), Uttrakhand. It reveals that even though tourism stakeholders are conscious of environmental transgressions, concrete efforts towards environmentally sustainable practices in CTR do not seem to be a priority. Nevertheless, this research suggests that visitor’s noncompliant behavior may be altered by enhancing place attachment through repeat visitations, improving visitor experiences, and effective information dissemination. Also, future tourism operations may require a reduction in environmental transgressions through the creation of an agency that can assist community-based tourism operations.

Highlights

Before Indian independence, protected areas were designated hunting reserves for British nobility [1]
A senior local World Wildlife Fund (WWF) coordinator reckoned: “In addition to the highest concentration of tiger, Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) has the highest concentration of tourist resorts found anywhere around a forest in India
This study investigates tourists’ environmental transgressions while revealing the attitude and behavior of tourists toward the park under study

Summary

Introduction

Before Indian independence, protected areas were designated hunting reserves for British nobility [1]. Non-consumptive tourism provided the economic reasoning for wildlife conservation and was championed as a welfare tool for uplifting the local communities [4,5]. This push for tourism development was based on the premise that observation of animals in their native habitats was a non-consumptive use of nature with minimal ecological impact [6]. Environmental transgressions are regarded as noncompliant with conservation rules that involve breaking environmental protection laws and disregarding environmental norms of behavior These antienvironmental actions encompass both noncompliant visitor behavior and unsustainable development strategies implemented by local tourism providers [8,9,10]

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