Activities and Events 2002

AUSAID sponsored National Exposure Visit was conducted to different cities of India from 8^th to 19^th December 2002 to understand the overall institutional framework and organizational models for urban environmental services. Gangtok is a growing town with more demands on urban environmental services for which initial preparations are being made though the support of AUSIAD. ECOSS participated in this tour and contributed significantly in discussions and in formulating recommendations for urban environmental services for Greater Gangtok. Visits were made to Bangalore, Pune, Ajmer, Shimla and New Delhi.

An NGOs meet was conducted by Kewzing Youth Club on 16^th November at Ravangla Bazar. A total of 32 different large and small NGOs and CBOs assembled to interact and share their experiences. Participants were informed about the work of ECOSS and how it supported activities related to ecotourism and conservation in Sikkim. Many participants expressed keen interest to be affiliated with ECOSS and such connections would further strengthen the ECOSS network in Sikkim.

Vietnam Ecotourism Exchange :

An international ecotourism exchange program was organized and facilitated by ECOSS from 22^nd till 27th November 2002 for delegates from Vietnam sponsored by IUCN and SNV Vietnam. Participants in the exchange program consisted of Vietnamese government officials and Sikkim ecotourism stakeholders from the Government, private sector, communities and NGOs.

A workshop in Gangtok and field visits to Yuksam was conducted for participants to discuss and observe realities in the field. Khangchendzonga Conservation Committee assisted in the field visits while full support was extended by the Tourism Department in the discussions that took place in the one day workshop held in Gangtok. The Vietnamese delegates returned with an enriched experience.

ECOSS Chairman Mr. P.D. Rai and Executive Secretary Renzino Lepcha assisted in designing the North East Regional Ecotourism Seminar scheduled from 30^th –31^st October 2002. This event was organized by the Department of Tourism, Government of Nagaland with support from NEC, DONER and Department of Tourism, Government of India.

This event focused on sharing information and experiences on ecotourism development in the region and evolve meaningful strategies for the development of ecotourism in the North East. ECOSS assisted in formulating the report and drafting of the recommendations to be submitted to the Government of India.

Government of India, Ministry of Food Processing Industry sponsored Entrepreneur Development Program was conducted from the 16^th to the 29^th September 2002. For North and East districts, 19 candidates attended the 7 days training program while in South West Sikkim there was 18 candidates. The entrepreneurship program was focused around fruit and vegetable production and processing. Other agencies like the SFAC, National Horticultural Board, Horticulture Department, Govt. of Sikkim, SISI and local resource persons from Gangtok were invited as resource persons.

UNDP Project Proposal Workshop:

To develop a participatory project proposal for submitting to UNDP, a meeting was conducted at Karfectar in South Sikkim. Participants from South and West were invited including NGOs and Government servants. The project proposal was based on focusing to explore new destinations in fringe villages of protected areas where successful models of ecotourism could be replicated. There was very good participation from members of local committee and from the government. The information and inputs received in the workshop was compiled to formulate the proposal and submitted to UNDP for consideration.

A two days motivational workshop was conducted by ECOSS (10^th – 11^th August 2002) for tourism entrepreneurs and stakeholders from Kalimpong belonging to HORAK – Hotel and Restaurant Association of Kalimpong. . This workshop helped participants to identify opportunities and other possibilities to promote this small hill station close to Gangtok. The two days workshop included many group discussions and designing of an action plant to be implemented by HORAK in the next one year.

CMSES Training – Rongli and Gangtok :

Two EDP trainings consisting of six day each was conducted one at Rongli and another at Gangtok for the CMSES Program. This was an assignment provided by SIDICO.

On the invitation of SIDICO to visit their project field site in Labdang, ECOSS Chairman and Executive Secretary made a visit on 2^nd – 3^rd July for monitoring and evaluation of the Model Village Program. The visit was coordinated by Voluntary Health Association of Sikkim. It was impressive to observe the changes in the thinking of the community members and the confidence they had developed as a result of the project activities. Local skills and capacities had been developed and the local people were preparing for ecotourism in the village as a livelihood option. Representative from HUDCO, who provided the funds was also a part of the evaluation team.

Bhutanese Consultative Study Tour :

A Bhutanese consultative visit was organized and facilitated by ECOSS from 8^th – 23^rd July 2002 in Gangtok. A three days training program on Group or Association formation and Functioning was conducted thereafter field visits to Namchi, Damthang, Ravangla. The study tour included Bhutanese extension officials from the Ministry of Agriculture.

The overall visit was a success as different models in Sikkim provided ample opportunities to see the merits and demerits of Association and Groups. The lessons learnt in this tour would be applied back in their own context in Bhutan.

The CMSES training program was conducted by ECOSS in Gangtok. ECOSS has been conducting Entrepreneur Development Program for the department of SIDICO for the Chief Ministers Self Employment Scheme (CMSES). The initial EDP training was imparted by consultants from IIE (Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship), Guwahati who trained almost 70 participants from Sikkim who would in turn be resource persons for SIDICO.

Ecotourism Skill Development Training – Ravangla :

ECOSS services were hired by Sikkim Foundation to facilitate and provide training to the ecotourism service providers of Ravangla town.

Community Based Tourisn Planning Training – Nepal

23^rd – 29^th June 2002:

A training program for field based officers from the Dutch Development Agency was designed and conducted by ECOSS in Kathmandu. The training focused on building the skills on community planning for tourism. The new planning methodology called APPA – Appreciative Participatory Planning and Action was introduced and tested with participants.

On 19^th May 2002 - ECOSS Chairman and Executive Secretary made a visit to Dzongu in North Sikkim to understand the ground realities and assess the site for the initiation of the ecotourism project in collaboration with GERES a French NGO and local communities. This visit was important to understand the issues at the grass roots and also clarify and introduce the role of ECOSS played in facilitating the project activities and helping in strengthening the community based organizations of Dzongu for the promotion of ecotourism and conservation. There was a good representation of members in the meeting with the local area MLA Mr. Sonam Gyatso giving his support for the project.

Assessing Role of EDC Committees in Barsay WLSanctuary:

From 27^th to 28^th May 2002 ECOSS Chairman and Executive Secretary made a visit to Barsay Rhododendron Sanctuary and surrounding buffer villages of Ribdi, Bhareng, Hillay, Dodak and Soreng. This trip was coordinated by DFO Wildlife South West Mr. Sandeep Tambe. There were lively interactions with the local people and observations were made as to how the EDC committees around protected areas were working in conservation and livelihood options programs of the Forest department. Interactions with local leaders clearly showed that they lacked vision and leadership and required institutional support strengthening. A group of 30 members from the EDC committee were chosen to be sent to V.V Giri National Labor Institute for awareness and training on leadership in communities.

In the month of April a six days international regional conference on “Decision making and Local self Governance in the Hindu Kush Himalayas” (15^th – 20^th April) was organized at Yuksam in collaboration with the World Mountain People Association.

This conference saw representatives of local communities as well as governments, funding agencies, and NGOs, and scholars from all the mountainous areas of the Hindu Kush Himalayas present precise examples of the ways local communities organize themselves in order to manage their resources, introduce technical and managerial innovations, and insure their cohesiveness.

ECOSS was involved in making all the local arrangements and co ordination while MPA took charge of the technical sessions of the conference. For the first time “Home Stay” was promoted among the local communities of Yuksam which became a major success story in the ecotourism sector.

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